Asheville Daily Planet April 2014

‘Misinformation’ ripped by Lt. Gov.

Fight urged for the soul of Asheville

Robin Thicke makes casino crowd swoon — See Review, Pg. B1

— See Editorial, Pg. A8

Lt. Gov. Dan Forest

— See Story, Pg. A2

ILLE V E H AS ASHEVILLEʼS GREATEST NEWSPAPER

April 2014

Vol. 10, No. 5

An Independent Newspaper Serving Greater Asheville www.ashevilledailyplanet.com

Racial profiling blasted

By JOHN NORTH john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com Consumer racial profiling is a practice that is damaging to those who are targeted by it and it is not supported by the facts, Shaun Gabbidon said during an address on March 27 at UNC Asheville.

Gabbidon, who addressed “The Black Thief Stereotype: Shopping While Black and Consumer Racial Profiling in the 21st Century,” drew about 100 people to the Sherrill Center’s Mountain View Room.

He is a distinguished professor of Shaun Gabbidon criminal justic and public affairs at Penn State University at Harrisburg and a nationally recognized expert on issues of race, ethnicity, crime, private security and criminal justice.

His visit was spurred by an Asheville Mall department store’s false accusation and treatment of Cheryl Johnson.

See PROFILING, Page A12

The Advice Goddess

Amy Alkon

Save the wails ....

Q: Are guys scared of politically active women? My boyfriend of two months just broke up with me over my support for animal rights, and I’ve generally had difficulty keeping boyfriends because of this. This boyfriend was bothered by two incidents. In the first, I got into an argument about zoos with one of his friends at a party. Another time, we were driving alongside a car with a pro-hunting bumper sticker, and I rolled down my window and shouted something to the driver. I’m trying to do good— protect creatures without a voice. Does that mean I don’t deserve a boyfriend?

— Yes, I Stand For Something Want to know the answer?

See ADVICE GODDESS, Page A9

FREE

Forward Together debuts

Several members of Forward Together, the Mars Hill University chapter of the NAACP, attended the Moral March, held in Raleigh on Feb. 8. Forward Together is MHU’s new-

Special photo by MARC MULLINAX, MHU Professor of Religion

est club, having been formed this semester. It is the only collegiate chapter of the NAACP located in North Carolina west of Winston-Salem.

‘My Little Pony’ backpack furor: who is to blame for the bullying?

By LESLEE KULBA news@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com

A nine-year-old Candler Elementary boy has had more than his 15 minutes of fame.

According to the short version, Grayson Bruce was asked by administrators at Candler Elementary to leave his backpack at home because it was a “trigger for bullying.” WLOS is taking credit for breaking the story that resulted in national TV attention and a Facebook page that two weeks later had 75,000 likes.

Grayson claimed he had been bullied previously for his interest in the “My Little Pony” TV series.

He has a couple of the show’s dolls as well.

While shopping with his family for back-toschool items, young Grayson selected a “My Little Pony” backpack. It was blue and featured the face of cartoon character Rainbow Dash.

The backpack only served as another excuse for abuse. In a matter-of-fact voice, Grayson told

WLOS, “They’re taking it a little too far, with punching me, pushing me down, calling me horrible names, stuff that really shouldn’t happen.”

At one point, school administrators intervened to “immediately address a situation that had created a disruption in the classroom.”

Following administrators’ advice, Grayson began bringing his lunch to school in a different bag, but his mother, Noreen Bruce, challenged the school system’s philosophy. “It’s flawed logic,” she protested. “Saying a lunchbox is a trigger for bullying is like saying a short skirt is a trigger for rape.”

Grayson’s mom had expected administrators to punish the bullies. When they did not, she pulled Grayson out of school.

In response to a mountain of bad publicity, school administrators issued a clarifying statement. “We sincerely regret that the issue of being told to leave the book bag at home was perceived as blaming Grayson,” it read in part.

See BACKPACK, Page A12

Grayson Bruce

A2 —April 2014 - Asheville Daily Planet

Lt. Gov. blasts ‘misinformation’ on N.C. legislature Noteworthy successes being obscured, business group told

By JOHN NORTH

john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest cited what he said were some of the major accomplishments of recent General Assembly action in Raleigh during a March 3 luncheon meeting of the Council of Independent Business Owners.

The lieutenant governor stressed that many in the audience might be surprised by hearing the facts from him, noting that they are contrary to what he termed the prevailing negative reports, Forest’s talk and a question-and-answer session — lasting about 15 minutes each — drew about 100 people to Asheville’s Crest Center & Pavilion.

CIBO President Rod Hudgins recognized elected guests, including state Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Hendersonville; state Rep. Nathan Ramsey, R-Fairview; Buncombe County Commissioner Joe Belcher, Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, and Asheville City Council members Jan Davis and Gwen Wisler.

When someone pointed out that he had omitted recognizing Terry Bellamy, who recently stepped down as Asheville’s mayor, Hudgins, apologizing profusely for the oversight, gave her a warm welcome and praised her for her accomplishments.

Forest was introduced by Apodaca, who peppered his remarks with his prototypical dry wit.

Apodaca triggered the event’s loudest laughter, when he began by quipping, “It’s good to be here today. Everybody thought (Rep.) Tim Moffitt (R-Arden) was going to be here today,

but he’s not... Maybe that’s why we’ve got this crowd. “ In perhaps a playful reference to CIBO’s initial oversight in its introducing, Apodaca prompted more laughter when he joked, “Former Mayor Terry Bellamy — it’s good to see you today, especially since your’e Lt. Gov. not mayor anymore.”

Dan Forest Apodaca appeared to relish the opportunity to introduce Forest, whom he noted is a friend, as well as to needle the keynote speaker, albeit in a jovial fashion.

“Dan is truly a good man,” Apodaca said with a grin. “Dan like Nathan (Ramsey) married way above himself... They have a wonderful family.

“Dan is an architect by trade. I think he’s retired now. He doesn’t look old enough to be retired. Dan’s mother is former congressman Sue Meyer (check spelling) of Charlotte.

“So I’m not going to say anymore nice things about Dan — I’m about tired of him,” Apodaca concluded, as the crowd again burst out in laughter and then applauded Forest as he approached the lectern.

Smiling, Forest said that Apodaca “is the quickest wit I know. Thank you.” The lieutenant governor also thanked Bellamy “for being here” and her accomplishments first as a member of City Council — and then as Asheville’s mayor.

Forest said his address will “tell you what’s

going on in Raleigh, as well provide his “insight to what’s going on in Raleigh.”

He added, “It’s a very partisan world and there’s lot of misinformation out there... We’ve got political instability” in the nation as an entity, and that carries into state government affairs, Forest said “If you have too many extremes, then your country’s in peril.”

Contrary to the partisan misinformation, Forest said the divide among legislators (from the two political parties) in Raleigh is not nearly as stark as reported. Indeed, he asserted, “I’d say 98 percent of the bills in Raleigh are bipartisan — with 98-0 or 96-2 votes — and that’s good news” for the constituents.

“Most of you are small businesspeople... You really don’t read about it in the newspapers or see it on the TV... He said the state motto, ‘Esse quam videri’ (‘To be, rather than to seem,’” is applicable, given the misinformation about the legislature.

“It’s a great state. We have a lot of good things going for North Carolina” with the current legislature and Gov. Pat McCrory’s leadership. “But for many years, many things were getting swept under the rug” by state leaders.

(Forest’s reference was to recent elections that brought in a Republican governor and GOPdominated legislature. Previously, Democratcontrolled legislatures had held sway on state affairs for more than a century.)

“When we (the McCrory administration) took charge about a couple years ago, we looked at those things swept under the rug” and realized that “you have to have a solid infrastructure” to

make any major achievements.

Forest said the General Assembly “cut taxes by $3 billion and got the budget balanced with $3 billion” by trimming spending.

“We cut personal and corporate income taxes and eliminated the death tax — that’s $1.5 billion right there,” he said. “That’s good to do for North Carolina’s future....

“We live in a world of ‘big data,’ but we have a state (government) that’s in disarray from a technology standpoint because we have 300 different (software) systems” in operation.

“We had to figure out a way to get the systems talking to each other” — and that has been accomplished, he said, thanks to the efforts by the McCrory administration and the legislature.

As an example of change for the better, Forest said, “One thing we did was change the transportation model. It used to be, you had to know someone to get a road built. Now, tax dollars are spent for what’s best for North Carolina.

“I could go through agency after agency,” with state leaders “turning over rocks and discovering things. The amount of fraud and abuse that going on in DHHS (the state Department of Health and Human Services) is astounding.

There’s a billion and a half dollars in debt in (state) Medicaid — that’s broken and we need to fix it — we’ve discovered since we took over... Once it’s on the books, the state has to take care of it.”

After a pause, Forest noted, “These are the kind of things we’re discovering” and must be dealt with “to go forward.”

Election officials move forward with 95 voter challenges

Following a challenge filed by the Asheville Tea Party and Voter Integrity Project, the Buncombe County Board of Elections on March 27 agreed to go ahead with 95 challenges to voter registrations.

The board dismissed 86 of the 182 challenges the group filed. That total included 55 challenges that met part of the legal threshold for more investigation.

Afterward, tea party volunteer Bill Whitehead told the

news media that he disagreed with the decision. “That’s too bad,” he was quoted as saying to the Asheville CitizenTimes. “I’m disappointed.”

Elections board Chairman John Watson, who voted against dismissing the 55 cases where letters to voters were returned undeliverable, also did not agree with the decision.

Watson contended that state law lists the aforementioned number as enough evidence for a full hearing on removing

Magazine article rips UNCA as one of ‘least valuable’ colleges UNC Asheville, which is ranked among the top American universities in a number of polls, was upbraided March 26 in a magazine article that contends that it ranks as one of the 11 “least valuable colleges” in America.

The article, headlined “These U.S. Colleges and Majors Are th Biggest Waste of Money,” appeared in Atlantic magazine. It contends that UNCA and 10 other schools on the list register a 20-year net return on investment of worse than negative $30,000.

The story contends that the aforementioned results mean that “not going to college is at least $30,00 more valuable than taking the time to pay for and graduate from one of these schools.”

UNCA ranked fifth least-valuable on the list, trailing Shaw University and Fayetteville University in North Carolina, Savannah State University in Georgia and Bluefield College in Virginia.

Based on data compiled by PayScale, the article surveyed 96 students and cited out-of-state tuition costs. The story takes the opposite approach from a previous Atlantic article that used the PayScale date to determine the most valuable universities and degrees nationwide.

Meanwhile, UNCA Chancellor Anne Ponder took issue with the article’s

a voter from the roll.

However, board secretary Robert Knapp asserted that the 55 cases failed to meet the other legal requirements of probably cause, as many of them involved pople who voted in 2012 and 2013.

Board member Lucy Smith voted with Knapp for a 2-1 decision. “I’d really not like to disenfranchise people,” Knapp told the Citizen-Times.

methodology and said she did not think it would hurt the university, which recently was ranked by Forbes magazine as 20th nationally as a “Best Value College.”

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Asheville Daily Planet — April 2014 - A5

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All kids get a FREE TOY on grand opening day at our new store!

A6 — April 2014 — Asheville Daily Planet

St. Paul and Broken Bones to be among DA5 highlights

Fueled by Zeppelin, Caleb Johnson survives another round on TV’s ‘Idol’ Fueled by his stellar March 26 performance of a truncated version of Led Zeppelin’s epic rocker “Dazed and Confused,” Asheville’s Caleb Johnson made it for yet another week on television’s “American Idol.”

Johnson has yet to rank among the bottom three contestants after the weekly national vote tally.

Voted off on the night of March 27 was North Carolina’s only other contestant, Majesty Rose, who had been in the bottom three ranking the previous two weeks. She sang Florence & The Machine’s “Shake It Out” on March 26, oddly contradicting the theme of “I’m With the Band.” Rose is a preschool teacher from Greensboro.

The other remaining contestants are from Florida, New Hampshire, Michigan (two finalists) and Alabama (three finalists).

By all accounts, Johnson was a big hit on “American Idol” on March 26, terming the Zeppelin song “Dazed and Confused” as “one of my favorite songs of all time.”

The performance showcased Johnson’s interaction with Rickey Minor and the “Idol” backup band.

“This is what I want to do,” Caleb said before singing, meaning fronting a rock band.

While some other contestants chose songs that did not conform with the theme “I’m

Asheville’s Caleb Johnson With the Band,” Johnson reportedly hit that requirement to a “T.” He and the band turned up the volume for “Dazed and Confused,” a song by 1960s jingle composer Jake Holmes that Led Zeppelin used to stretch beyond 20 minutes in concerts.

Johnson’s performance included flashing colored lights, roaring guitars and a ghostly backup vocal mimicking the original recording. All of the judges to compliment the band’s performance after Johnson finished.

The judges also showered Johnson with praise.

“That was very sexy,” judge Jennifer Lopez said. “That takes us to another level.”

“I just don’t know how you could have sung that song any better,” said judge Harry Connick Jr., although he was confused by Johnson’s ending. Still, “it’s tough to follow that,” he added.

The Asheville Downtown Association recently announced the performers for the 2014 Downtown After 5 free street concerts, including the young retro-soul band St. Paul and the Broken Bones from Birmingham, Ala. The band, which has drawn raves on National Public Radio, recently played at The Grey Eagle in the River Arts District and drew a full house.

For the 26th year of DA5, five shows — on the third Friday of each month, May-September — will be held 5-9 p.m. on North Lexington Avenue at the Interstate 240 overpass. The music will include rock, soul, bluegrass, altcountry, funk and more.

Other bigger name bands will include Hayes Carll, Chatham County Line and the Asheville All-Stars, featuring players from a number of local bands.

Noting the popularity of the event, ADA President Adrian Vassallo recently said DA5 has been been drawing 5,000-6,000 people for each show. However, he predicted that, with some of the bands scheduled this year, DA5 could reach the 7,000-8,000 mark.

Local and national beers will be sold, including selections from Asheville Brewing, Catawba Brewing, Sierra Nevada, Pisgah, Samuel Adams, Magic Hat and Budweiser of Asheville and Empire Distributors. Wristbands are required to purchase alcohol; the $2 fee for each wristband benefits a different local nonprofit at each show.

The DA5 schedule is as follows: • May 16: St. Paul and the Broken Bones and The Broadcast. St. Paul and the Broken Bones, a hot horn band led by frontman Paul Janeway, are drawing raves. The Broadcast has become one of the city’s most popular bands.

• June 20: Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ with American Aquarium. Southern rockers Drivin N’ Cryin’ pulled a huge crowd at DA5 in 2010.

Frontman Kevn Kinney has been a regular at the Warren Haynes Christmas Jam. Raleighbased Americana group American Aquarium has been building a following through steady touring.

• July 18: Hayes Carll and Chatham County Line. Texas singer-songwriter Carll has performed at such major festivals as Bonnaroo and South by Southwest. Chatham County Line plays traditional bluegrass.

• Aug. 15: The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker and Ruby Velle and the Soulphonics.

The Dynamites do old-school soul and rhythm and blues, influenced by the likes of James Brown. Velle and the Soulphonics celebrate Georgia-style soul and early 1950s and ’60s R&B. • Sept. 19: The Asheville All Stars and Asheville Rock Academy. The All-Stars include members of Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band, Asheville Horns, Molly Parti and more.

Young performers from the Asheville Rock Academy will open the night.

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Asheville Daily Planet — April 2014 — A7

I-26 connector plan backed

By LESLEE KULBA news@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com

In successive weeks, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners and Asheville City Council approved the signing of a joint resolution informing the state Department of Transportation they support Alternative 3c for Section B of the I-26 Connector project. I In layman’s terms, they wanted the DOT to start work on the most straightforward, leastexpensive option for alleviating congestion in the area of the Jeff Bowen Bridge.

Business interests look forward to streamlining the route, reducing traffic jams and welcoming port traffic through town.

Environmental activists, however, have been able to stop the road improvements at every turn. They have argued for multimodal transportation, less environmental disturbance, and respect for existing neighborhoods. They support the Asheville Design Center’s proposal, Alternative 4b, for turning the Bowen Bridge into a walkable boulevard, and by no means increasing the

concrete footprint.

Whereas 4b would cost $330 million, compared to 3c’s $230 million price tag, proponents argue design should precede any consideration of cost. Advocating for 4b before both the commissioners and council were representatives of a group that calls itself The I-26 ConnectUs project.

During the commissioners’ meeting March 18, Commissioner Brownie Newman explained to the audience that the plan was to bid the project low to keep it in the running for funding, and then add amenities like handsome streetscapes and bike paths as the project rolled out.

Taking a different perspective, Commissioner Mike Fryar said if they were going to lowball the bid, they would be signing a “fake resolution.” The commissioners voted unanimously in favor of keeping the project alive.

When council heard the matter March 25, Councilman Gordon Smith spoke about the use of eminent domain. He told how urban renewal in Asheville has historically been another name for mowing down minority

neighborhoods. He wanted that noted, and hoped the DOT would not repeat history. As it turns out Alternative 3c would require the demolition of the fewest residences of any plan with 19. 4b would require the demolition of 31.

Rick Tipton, construction engineer for the project, assured council that the DOT will set property-owners up in new digs that are at least as good as their current abodes.

Councilman Cecil Bothwell was the only member of council to vote against the resolution. “This is the Koch brothers’ plan!” he exclaimed, faulting Alternative 3c for facilitating commercial activities.

Bothwell said the $100 million the DOT could save would be ill-advised if it were to spend $330 million building the wrong design. “This is not right for Asheville,” he said, “and in 20 years, ‘I’ll be seen to have been right.’”

Consideration of the resolution was prompted by changes to the way the NC DOT is prioritizing projects. It now selects projects on a point system that considers

cost-benefit ratios, adequacy for traffic volumes, safety, and facilitation of circulation for freight and military traffic. Local leadership spoke as if to imply that failure to get the project funded in this cycle could mean the end of it altogether.

The day after council approved the resolution, Gov. Pat McCrory announced the state could lose $1 billion if Congress does not intervene to stop the bankruptcy of the federal Highway Trust Fund. Authorization of MAP21 funding is slated to expire in Oct. 1, but the federal government’s transportation budget is expected to run dry before then. The federal government picks up 28 percent of the state’s transportation budget.

The same day, the N.C. DOT’s Chief Deputy Secretary Nick Tennyson informed the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce that gas tax revenues are no longer bringing in enough revenue to maintain roads and bridges. He blamed the shortfall on people driving more fuel-efficient cars and cutting down on their driving. He said a rate of 54 cents per gallon would be needed to cover costs.

Moffitt-Turner meeting makes waves

From Staff Reports

Politics is a world of words, and there is so much more to words than meets the eye.

Brian Turner, who has announced he will run against state Representative Tim Moffitt, claimed Moffitt asked him to drop out of the race. That was only one side of the story.

The comments were made at a Feb. 24 luncheon arranged

by Buncombe County Commissioner David King, who later said he wished he had never gotten involved.

Allegedly, Moffitt not only asked Turner to step down so he could focus on just one campaign, that of House speaker;

Moffitt supposedly indicated that he would reward Turner for dropping out of the race with a high-paying job at UNC-TV. Turner had been serving as vice chancellor at UNC Asheville until he stepped down to run for the House, and UNC officials have indicated they will soon launch a talent search for a permanent director of UNC-TV. In his private life, Moffitt runs his company, Moffitt International, a professional head-hunter agency.

Moffitt said he was trying to pay Turner a compliment based on his talents and interest in television. Moffitt replied to the allegation with the insinuation that he did not have the connections to score Turner the position. “It would be easier for me to

Montreat College goes ‘all in’ with $8M fundraiser

From Staff Reports

Montreat College has announced an “All In” program for fundraising $8 million. Proceeds will go toward hiring a new president, renovating facilities, augmenting the school’s scholarship fund, paying off debt and diversifying academic programs.

When the program was announced March 1, the college’s Chairman of the Board Barney Wright said the college had already collected $6.4 million in gifts and pledges.

Kevin Auman, chair of the faculty executive committee, indicated the faculty and board of directors had buried the hatchet in support of the initiative. The school has been running up annual deficits of about $3 million in recent years.

Faculty members, however, are somewhat suspicious. Trust was broken when the board was not open about closing the campus as part of recently scuttled merger negotiations. Some have expressed curiosity about how the $6 million suddenly appeared.

Montreat College’s plans to merge with Point University in Georgia fell apart Feb. 19. The joining of the schools had been considered by the board of directors as a means to resolve financial difficulties. But the school’s faculty and alumni were vehemently opposed.

They launched a campaign, which students and members of the local business community joined.

There were concerns when word got out that closing

down the Montreat campus was a serious consideration in negotiations. However, it was technicalities in the college’s deed restrictions that proved their saving grace.

The college was forbidden to have a majority on its board from any faith but the Presbyterian Church.

Point is a nondenominational Christian college that was at first associated with the Church of Christ.

Precipitating the end of the merger was a letter drafted by Montreat faculty calling for the resignation of any trustee that supported a campus-closing merger.

On Feb. 24, the trustees announced the school could run out of cash as early as June. Prior to that, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges had “placed a sanction” on Montreat, requiring it to submit additional reports to continue its accreditation.

help him become the queen of Spain,” he quipped.

King was the only outside to witness to the conversation.

He said the exchange sounded harmless. He agreed with his fellow-Republican Moffitt’s interpretation of the event. That is, Moffitt was only making a suggestion following Turner’s expression of interest in serving the public.

Moffitt further shared that he thought his opponent was somewhat of a rookie, and he tried at one point in the conversation to convey that legislators need thick skin. Turner took that as some kind of a threat. In addition to having his office decorated with anti-Moffitt cartoons, Moffitt has been the victim of Twitter account hackers who tried to make it look like he was a gay-basher.

A8 - April 2014 - Asheville Daily Planet

The Daily Planet’s Opinion

To save soul of Asheville, don’t create technocracy

As Asheville and surrounding Buncome County crank up their efforts to recruit — with a host of incentives — startup and hightech firms and their well-paid employees, we caution all parties involved to consider the plight of San Franscisco, where the battle for the soul of the city remains at fever pitch.

The tech boom there, involving stratospheric job growth in the nearby Silicon Valley, has been described — by those who like the old SF — as a wrecking ball, with spiraling rents and evictions forcing many residents to be priced out of their beloved city.

We think the facts would support that funky Asheville is quite comparable to San Francisco (albeit on a much smaller scale), and we would contend that our city likely will soon face the same battle to save its soul.

San Francisco was once a stomping ground for beatnik poets, bohemians, hippies and even the Black Panthers. Music and the arts flourished. It now is increasingly the capital of global digital connectivity. The tech

boom is changing the very character of the now less charming West Coast city, named, ironically, for the patron saint most famous for his defense of the poor, sick and outcast.

Author Rebecca Solnit has described the soul of San Francisco as “the sense of this place as a refuge for all comers, as a place that fosters eccentricity, freedom, tolerance, alternatives and joi de vivre, as a place of environmentalists, poets, people whose lives are driven by idealism and not by greed, by a sort of biodiversity of community in class, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, interests. When only the rich survive, and even the doctors I know have trouble finding housing, all that’s clear-cut.”

Despite the stereotype of techies as money-grubbing, socially uninformed nerds without morals, we think that characterization is a bit harsh.

We are not anti-tech, just against creating a “technocracy” that accents class polarization.

A mountain populist to the very end

CHAPEL HILL — When long-time legislator and lawyer Martin Nesbitt died March 6 at age 67, he was already on my mind for a column.

The news of his stomach cancer followed quickly by his death shocked those who remembered his powerful presence as a representative and then state senator.

Nesbitt was one of North Carolina’s all-time great legislative leaders. For that I admired him greatly. But we sometimes ran into difficulties back in the 1990s when I was representing the university system, and he was trying to take into account the needs of the entire state in his role as chair of the House Appropriations Committee.

He championed for public schools, mental health and the environment. While he generally supported higher education, he would sometimes look to the university’s funding streams for resources to support other priorities.

He and I also had political differences.

We had radically different ideas about the tactics the Democratic Party and its advocates should use to win elections. I thought that Democrats could not win elections unless they got significant support, indeed a big share of votes, from moderates.

“Get too liberal,” I said, “and you lose a critical group of voters the Democrats need to win.”

I thought that Democrats must not be viewed as a captive of the so-called specialinterest groups, including labor, civil rights or even environmental groups, even though they usually give important support to Democratic candidates. Therefore, I insisted, Democrats had to be aggressive in courting moderate and pro-business voters.

Nesbitt, however, was what former House speaker Joe Hackney calls “a mountain populist then, a mountain populist to the very end.”

Another former House speaker, Dan Blue, agreed, telling the News & Observer that Nesbitt “had a sense of mountain populism that ran through him and he sensed that his major charge was to look out for the average everyday person.”

True to his populist roots, Nesbitt insisted that unless Democrats champion the little guys, working men and women, teachers, and others who have to struggle to make their way, then the Democrats cannot expect the

D.G. Martin enthusiastic support of such people when election time comes around. Without their passionate support, Democrats will not win many elections.

“If we don’t treat them right, why should they help us?” he would ask.

It was hard to win an argument with Nesbitt. He was smart, usually well-armed with relevant facts, tenacious and possessed with a kind of cheerful crankiness that could disarm and frustrate those who differed with him.

His friend, admirer and legislative colleague, former Rep. Jack Hunt also served in the House with Nesbitt’s mother, Mary Cordell Nesbitt.

Martin Nesbitt was appointed to fill his mother’s seat when she died in 1979. Hunt told me, “He got some of that cantankerousness from his mother and also his interest in the little people. She was tough and hard-nosed.

She was pretty hard, but she did a great job.

Martin was more of a diplomat than his mother. I never remember him speaking harshly or insulting anyone in debate on the floor. He was just as tough, but had a softer touch.”

Hunt praised Nesbitt’s values and mastery of the legislative process. “He learned a lot of that from Liston,” Hunt said, referring to longtime House Speaker Liston Ramsey, a dominant figure in North Carolina politics during the 1980s.

Nesbitt took what he learned from his mother, Liston Ramsey, Jack Hunt and others and fashioned himself into one of North Carolina’s most effective legislators, one whose untimely death leaves an empty place that will be hard to fill.

Without him to remind Democrats of their populist roots and responsibilities, it will be even harder for them to construct winning efforts in this year’s and future elections.

• D.G. Martin hosts “North Carolina Bookwatch,” which airs at 9:30 p.m. Fridays and at 5 p.m. Sundays on UNC-TV.

Letters to the Editor

Citizen-Times led attack on candidate, ATPAC says

Yesterday (March 9), Asheville Tea PAC learned that Lewis Clay would be dropping out of the race for Buncombe County Commissioner - District 3.

While Mr. Clay was not an Asheville Tea PAC-endorsed candidate, he had begun the process for possible endorsement. We support Mr. Clay’s decision to do what is right for him and his family.

However, to say that we are concerned about the events that led to his departure would be an understatement.

It is apparent to many that the Asheville Citizen-Times led a deliberate and persistent attack on Mr. Clay that was meant to embarrass him and his family in a purposeful attempt to damage his campaign.

While Mr. Clay’s Facebook “likes” are scrutinized, the current county Board of Commissioners operates with only the barest of journalistic oversight by the AC-T, despite spending millions of dollars in taxpayer money on projects with the flimsiest of justification, or none at all.

It is abundantly clear that the AC-T is not in the business of informing the public, but rather providing cover for business as usual, and when necessary, destroying the candidacies of people who threaten to

impede the systemic corruption that goes on in Buncombe County.

This past week, Asheville made the top 10 list of the most unaffordable cities in the U.S. Thank your City Council and the Board of Commissioners for killing affordable housing and for business growth in the city and Buncombe County by continuing to raise taxes and passing regulations.

ATPAC remains undeterred in its mission to support candidates who can best advance the principles of fiscal responsibility and limited government.

Jane Bilello Chairman, ATP/ATPAC Flat Rock ROBERT MALT Member, ATP/ATPAC Arden

Tenure termed cop-out for poor performance

Paying for performance is what most of us have lived with forever. Few have a secure job based on something other than our worth to our employer. Unions obtain contracts making it almost impossible to fire or lay off poor employees, one thing causing their demise over the years. Private business cannot keep an employee who is not producing, whatever reason.

See LETTERS, Page A10

The Candid Conservative

An alternative to ObamaCare’s intrusions

Medicare and out-of-control health care costs are a big part of America’s developing bankruptcy. Much of the mess can be traced to big brother’s built-in inefficiencies. Government’s number one priority will always been maintaining government.

For example, Medicare clumsily attempts to control reimbursement rates for 7,500 treatments. That’s impossible, but it does encourage physicians toward entrepreneurial creativity. More and more of our healers are becoming specialists in milking Uncle Sam’s cash cow. Routine assembly-line cataract surgeries taking 10 minutes are reimbursed at over seven times the rate of a 25-minute primary-care visit. No wonder we’re running out of family physicians.

It’s not ObamaCare, but America’s dimming dedication to a free-market offering the best way out. Instead of attempting to rig an ever-changing deal, Medicare should be encouraging competition. We can kick-start policies that reward productive providers instead of cheaters and embrace the middle ground between rigged medicine and socialized medicine. Look to what free-market competition did to the cost and quality of flat screens to see what could be done with healthcare.

No such thing as something for nothing The financial stimulus program used by America’s politicians has more to do with political cover than economic recovery. In fact, our economy has been deeply wounded by these social manipulators’ indifferent to long-term consequence. Cash-forclunkers, cash infusions for banks and cash bailouts for industry are all examples of special deals with long-term, not-sospecial impacts. The first action gutted the market of affordable used cars. The second actually removed incentives for banks to lend money. The third rewarded corporate incompetency, union greed and the illusion that government is smarter than a selfcorrecting free market. Through politicized tax policies, one-sided trade agreements,

Carl Mumpower

unfunded entitlement promises, convoluted regulations and inflationary housing policies, our politicians crashed our economy.

Through artificial money they are now screening their failure and transferring the bill to our children and their children. They know they will retire before most of us figure out the game. America has no immunity from natural law and something for nothing does not realistically exist in nature.

Cultural genocide The Homeland Security Department recently did a curious thing for someone charged with homeland security. They halted routine deportation of illegal aliens.

Hispanic activists and Democrats hailed the move. Why not? They’re clearly concerned with their special interests, not our country.

Democratic Congressman Luis Guitierrez – using the same logic that all criminals use when caught – hailed the Obama supported move because, “good people are being ruined by bad laws.” No, Mr. G, America’s culture is being ruined by porous borders, illegal immigration enablers thinking like you do, and a replacement of the rule of law with rule by law. In the latter our leaders and officials get to pick and chose, depending on political, personal, and power agendas, which laws they wish to enforce or not. Any culture that starts down that slippery slope is on its way to losing its culture. Once again, rational review affirms that our president continues to betray his oath of office. If you ignore the Constitution you are doing the opposite of upholding it.

See CANDID CONSERVATIVE, Page A11

Asheville Daily Planet —April 2014 — A9

Commentary

A

long-accepted legal maxim, dating back at least to the Magna Carta, declares that justice must be timely.

The accused must have their day in court; a decision must be rendered as soon as facts have been considered; the terms stipulated in a contract should commence upon signature of the document. No action of the law should be permitted to hang in limbo.

The timeliness of justice is as important as other elements of law enforcement, all subject to the strictures of the U.S. Constitution and subsequent legislation. We all need to know that the law is applied fairly, that we will be protected from both criminal actions and from prosecutorial inaction.

The cops, the prosecutors and the judiciary must be absolutely trustworthy.

That’s why I’ve endorsed Todd Williams in his bid to become Buncombe County’s next district attorney. As a former investigative reporter I have had every reason to distrust Ron Moore, our current D.A., since my first close examination of his actions in 2002.

Williams has been practicing law for 15 years (longer than Moore had plied the trade when he first ran for office 24 years ago). As a public defender, Williams has tried many capital cases over those years, and has a deep appreciation for both the need to fairly enforce the law, and for the plight of the wrongly accused. He’s the kind of even-handed human being you’d want prosecuting you if you were accused of a crime.

My personal experience with Moore dates back to Oct. 8, 2002, when I was

On the left

Justice delayed

managing editor of the Mountain Xpress and received an anonymous tip concerning a young woman named Nisha Sherlin. Sherlin alleged she had been tied to a bed and beaten for days. The man she accused of battery was then-Sheriff Bobby Lee Medford’s son.

Within days, I located Sherlin, who had been spirited away to the Broughton State Hospital in Morganton. I saw for myself that she was battered and bruised, though at the time she ran away screaming, clearly refusing to talk. “He’s from the newspaper!

Get him out of here!”

When I phoned the sheriff the next morning, and simply identified myself, the first words Medford uttered were, “Now don’t go after my boy.”

“Oh,” I thought, “So you thought I was calling about your son?” I didn’t have a chance to ask that question because the sheriff hung up. There were no charges and no arrest. The incident report filed by a deputy who supposedly investigated the scene of the alleged crime stated “no sign

Cecil Bothwell

Advice Goddess

Continued from Page A1 A: Men tend to like it when a woman screams passionately, but it’s less sexy if what she’s screaming is “McDonald’s is murder!”

But, wait — you’re trying to do some good; don’t you “deserve” a boyfriend?

You, like the rest of us, deserve not to be run over by a truck. The Declaration of Independence also spells out that “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” stuff we’re all supposed to get.

That’s right; you have a right to chase happiness. It doesn’t get delivered to your door. (“Sign here, please.”)

And the reality is, every requirement you have for a boyfriend and every, well, nonstandard practice you have (like Wicca, being a serious Civil War re-enactor, or a hobby of throwing fake blood on people in fur) narrows your options.

The size of a person’s dating pool is determined by their level of hotitude factored with how hard they are to be around. (An annoying 9 might still have many romantic opportunities, though with limited staying power.)

And just a guess, but for at least some of these guys who dumped you, maybe the problem wasn’t so much your support of animal rights as it was your lack of boundaries in expressing it.

Even a guy who’s with you in principle on sticking up for Bambi and the lab rats might not be comfortable with your transforming every social gathering into an animal rights protest rally.

Also, consider that there’s a difference between speaking your mind and yelling it out the window at someone who has announced in writing on their vehicle that they are likely armed.

In other words, you can refuse to ever bend your principles, or you can have a man in your life.

of violence in the trailer.”

The men who cleaned up the trailer told me “there was nothing breakable that was not broken ... the bed frame was broken to the floor ... there was blood on clothing ...”

Sherlin later released her medical report to me which affirmed that she exhibited “multiple-age bruises.” You can only get multiple age bruises by being bruised day after day after day.

But when I called Ron Moore to discuss the matter he assured me that he had Sherlin’s medical report and there was nothing in it to substantiate her allegations.

Why didn’t Ms. Sherlin make more of a public stink about her mistreatment? She told me that both the sheriff and his son had threatened to kill her if she spoke to the press.

I’m not attempting to be judge and jury here. Perhaps a full and fair trial would have cleared the young man of his accuser’s charges. Every accused deserves that day in court. But so does a victim. Sherlin was absolutely denied justice, as were all of

The Advice Goddess

Amy Alkon

This isn’t to say you have to start wearing snow leopard legwarmers and eating baby seal McNuggets; you probably just need to divide the world into political and social forums.

Social forums would be reserved for pleasant cocktail party conversation — even if a guy is gnawing meat off a skewer and you long more than anything to stick him in the eye with it and say, “See how you like it!”

When you start dating somebody new, ask him what his comfort zone is regarding your activism, and either respect the boundaries he needs or be honest if you can’t or won’t.

If you come to see a relationship as a party of two, each of whose needs matter, there’s a good chance you’ll find a guy who’ll at least be there to bail you out of jail — maybe for years to come — until you two finally retire to the country to run a lentil rescue. (Some say they scream when you drop ‘em in boiling water.)

Dial another day

Is it really that inappropriate to give a girl your number instead of asking for hers? I met a cool girl at the gym. We really seemed to hit it off, and I asked whether we could get a drink sometime.

She said yes, and I said, “Here, I’ll give you my number.” She said, “Um, don’t you want my number?” Well, I just offered her mine because she had her phone with her and mine was in the locker room, but apparently she was offended.

Really? Who cares?

— Hung Up On An Issue

Buncombe County’s citizens, then and for years after.

Here was a clearly demonstrable case of the sheriff refusing to investigate a family member. My investigation and reporting of this incident brought other witnesses forward, including deputies, and I gradually unspooled Medford’s criminal enterprises. I took my file to the U.S. attorney in Charlotte in July 2006, and in December federal agents arrested Medford.

Ron Moore had all the evidence he needed to intervene with our crooked lawman in 2002. He didn’t want to bother.

If you’re registered Democratic or independent, I hope you’ll join me in voting for Todd Williams in the May 6 primary.

Buncombe deserves better.

• Cecil Bothwell is author of nine books including Pure Bunkum: Reporting on the Life and Crimes of Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Lee Medford, (Brave Ulysses Books, 2008) and a member of Asheville’s City Council.

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A10 - April 2014 - Asheville Daily Planet

Commentary

Conservatives cling to wrong side of history The 19th Amendment, the one that gave women the right to vote, was passed by Congress in June 1919 and went out to the state legislatures for ratification. Fourteen months later enough states had voted yes, and it became part of the Constitution.

But along the way... Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Maryland and Delaware voted no.

Let me repeat that: these Southern states voted against giving women the right to vote. (North Carolina apparently didn’t vote on the amendment in this time period.)

Viewed 95 years later, these votes look ridiculous. But we shouldn’t just cluck our tongues and shake our heads. There’s a lesson here for our time. The lesson is about what has come to be called “social conservatism.”

Conservatism is part of our heritage as Southerners. And the votes against women’s suffrage were pure-and-simple conservative votes – in the dictionary sense: “a disposition in politics to preserve what is established.”

Lee Ballard Preserving what is established implies that somebody wants to un-preserve what is established. That somebody are liberals.

I grew up in a conservative home in Georgia. Preachers talked about “modernists.” The world around us was teeming with “liberal” ideas: modern dancing, lipstick, movies, playing cards, women bobbing their hair and wearing men’s clothes.

The no votes on the 19th Amendment were driven by this same anti-liberal sentiment. The Bible is clear that Christian women are to be subservient to men.

For example, First Corinthians 14:35: “If (women) will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.”

Did Southern conservatives think they

Letters to the Editor Continued from Page A8 In government jobs, profit is unimportant, but product should be; individuals not producing should not be retained. Arguing that teachers are unique and their job performance cannot be evaluated flies in the face of a teacher being able to evaluate individual student performance. Arguing that treating individuals differently and encouraging competition defeats teamwork doesn’t stand up; look at sports teams where your job depends on individual performance on a team.

Industry works as teams and evaluates as individual; our performance has improved product through the years (costs down, quality up). Job security based on tenure is a cop-out for poor performance, and not being able to evaluate performance and turning to a lottery is an admission of incompetent supervision. Reward good teachers, and let poor teachers re-evaluate why they are teaching.

Allyn M. Aldrich Asheville

Caution urged in moving forward on I-26 connector

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following was to be presented to Asheville City Council at its March 25 meeting, but is appearing here as a letter to the editor because the author was unable to attend because of the weather.

• My name is Steve Rasmussen, and I’m a participant in the I-26 ConnectUs group.

Yes, let’s fix the bridge. But let’s do it smart. Asheville needs MORE greenway, LESS freeway. This is the 21st century now, not the 20th.

In the last century, “progress” was the catchword that justified every massive roadbuilding project in our state regardless of its impact on our environment and communities.

Today, as we’re facing urban sprawl, pollution-induced climate change, lack of public transportation, and other consequences of putting profit before planet

and people, “sustainability” has to be our watchword for surviving and thriving into the future. And long-range sustainability of our environment, our communities, and our local businesses is the basis of Asheville’s 2025 Master Plan.

would actually win their fight against women voting? I don’t know. But I’m sure it didn’t matter. They had to dig in against liberals who were threatening to topple the world as it was supposed to be forever, changing the role of women.

Does anybody today feel that women shouldn’t vote? Not many.

This is a powerful clue for me in understanding today’s social conservatives.

They fiercely oppose change that threatens their traditional ideas of right and wrong.

But over time, what was “wrong” is accepted.

For example, the Christian college I attended no longer forbids students’ going to movies or dancing, or female students’ wearing slacks. Generations that came after me – most notably those that donate to the college – embraced change.

In the 19th century, Southern preachers found abundant support for slavery in the Bible – Ephesians 6:5, for example, where slaves are told to obey their masters as if they were obeying Christ. (Interestingly, abolitionists argued more from the Ameri-

can principles of liberty and equality than from the Bible.) I remember the biblical arguments I heard as a kid in support of segregation.

Nobody but kooks today think Negro slavery was appointed by God, and most Southerners now realize the evils of segregation.

So it will be with homosexuality. As time passes now, and more and more gays come out of the closet, people will discover that they know homosexuals – people they love and respect. Opinions of church members will change, and the issue will pass.

Social issues are, by their very nature, temporary. Society changes over time until a new consensus is reached. And issues cease to be issues.

Why do I care what social conservatives think and do? My next column in this space will be about politics and social conservatism – how their bloc voting is impacting the future of us in North Carolina.

• Lee Ballard lives in Mars Hill.

Unfortunately the regional DOT division engineer recently told our group he’s never even looked at the 2025 plan. And the main priority of the state legislature’s so-called new Strategic Mobility Formula is still the 20th-century one of ramming ever more

freight traffic through our state at ever higher speeds, which will bypass our local businesses and benefit only big corporations that have their sights set on transshipping more goods and jobs overseas.

See LETTERS, Page A11

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Candid Conservative Continued from Page A8

Socialists are masters of denial

The American Success Equation is defined by liberty, opportunity and responsibility working together as an honest foundation for hope and prosperity. Socialists don’t like the idea of individuals creating their own destiny in a free society. They prefer the idea that government, especially their kind of government, is the answer. If you’re confused about what a socialist is, consider the words “Democrat,” “progressive” and “liberal.” Though they scream bloody murder at the accusation of being socialists, their actions speak loudly to those credentials. Socialism prevails wherever government controls the production and distribution of capital, resources and land. If you constantly press regulations, laws, monetary practices, income redistribution initiatives and tax policies that control production and distribution, then you’re a socialist. Conservative thinkers recognize Democrats, progressives and liberals as closet socialists. Because they’re in denial doesn’t mean we have to be too.

Letters

Continued from Page A10

All the Section B alternatives DOT is proffering us for the I-26 Connector Project still hinge on blasting eight to 10 lanes through West Asheville in Section A. They still involve massively overengineered structures that violate our local plans.

Alt 3C does not even fully separate interstate from local traffic — it still combines I240 with Patton Avenue traffic. In 25 years, DOT has still not done an Environmental Impact Study for any of its perpetually retreaded proposals.

The last traffic study for this project was done in 2008. In the wake of the recession, auto travel nationwide has been declining as people commute less, teenagers socialize on smartphones rather than in cars, and forward-looking communities direct federal and state infrastructure funding into multimodal transportation, which by the way generates 70 percent more jobs than building new roads and freeways, according to a recent Smart Growth America study.

Recent traffic statistics at the Tennessee border suggest that our regional traffic is also declining.

But the Catch-22 is, no traffic study will be done for this I-26 expansion until it’s already been approved. Even then, will it incorporate these factors, or will it be geared toward justifying a massive pork-barrel project for the construction and developer lobbyists who dominate Raleigh? Perhaps we need to do our own independent traffic analysis just to find out what we really need as opposed to what APAC and (state Rep.) Tim Moffitt say we need.

I’ve heard impatient freeway advocates claim we have a mountain saying, “Just git ‘er done.” I’d counter that with a wiser, more prudent mountain saying: “Measure twice, cut once.”

STEVE RASMUSSEN Asheville

Ron Moore’s re-election as prosecutor supported

Ron Moore has served this community capably for more than 20 years without even a hint of scandal or impropriety.

His leadership and reputation as a district attorney are second to none. The announced

Preying upon our children

Our young should be furious at what we older folks have done to them. Historically, each of America’s previous generations has passed a generous inheritance of prosperity and opportunity. In that we baby boomers have lived beyond our means and are in the process of leaving behind an inheritance of debt and dead ends – we are the glaring exception.

The impact of our culture’s unrestrained extravagance has burdened every young person in America with the equivalent of a home mortgage without the home. At the same time their economic potentials have been burglarized by the greed of those who should have been serving as protectors.

This is a partial explanation as to why our newest citizens are being called “generation zero.”

The extent of their burden has purposely been hidden. Politicians at all levels have been successful in providing a steady stream of lies, fog and distractions concealing the reality of the national debt burden.

When the bill for Medicare, Social Secu-

supporters to date for his challenger paint a clear picture of why a small group of people want to displace Moore as our DA. Asheville needs a DA who will not subordinate the prosecution of criminals to a political agenda. The resolute prosecution of those who commit crimes requires no less than our very best. Keep Ron Moore as DA. JOHN MIALL Asheville

Moffitt termed intelligent, capable and hard-working

Progressives sure are desperate to find something wrong with Rep. (Tim) Moffitt.

They even convinced their candidate (Brian) Turner to make a mountain out of a molehill (or lie) out of the meeting — requested by Turner — with Moffitt and Commissioner (David) King.

Even the liberal newspaper (the Asheville Citizen-TImes) did not think the meeting noteworthy until ACORN Progressives changed the story.

Trained in nasty ACORN philosophy and tactics, they like to try to set people up because they know they cannot win on the issues and are losing control. Progressives shadowed Moffitt and his family on vacation and harassed his kids.

After ruling North Carolina for almost a century and a half (143 years), tax-and-spend progressives perhaps cannot bear the fact that good, responsible, honest legislators are now in Raleigh.

There is not a finer man than Rep. Moffitt.

He is intelligent, capable, effective and hardworking for his constituents.

After inheriting billions in debt (unapproved by taxpayers), failed computer systems in the works for decades, obsolete and job-killing business and agriculture regulations, and much more mess, legislators have begun to turn our state around in only one year, including lowering taxes for all residents..

Betty Budd Asheville

TO REPORT AN ERROR

The Asheville Daily Planet strives to be accurate in all articles published. Contact the News Department at news@ashevilledailyplanet.com, (828) 252-6565, or P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 28814-8490.

rity, public service retirement, defense and other promises is tallied, the dollars are so astronomical as to be incomprehensible.

It will be impossible to address this debt without herculean sacrifice. We have not even begun that process.

Most of that pain should rightly be handed to the people who bought into the hollow promises of something for nothing, failed to properly fund future needs, and who now expect a rainbow of services.

Unfortunately, it will be the young and productive who will be handed most of the bill for those of us who have neglected to patrol our health and prepare.

It has never been easy to be young.

Today’s America is providing some unique hurdles. Finding credible role models, a mission in life, and a way to escape a never ending parade of seductions from reality is

becoming ever more difficult.

Somewhere between childhood and adulthood there should be a conduit of hope. Instead, too many of our young find a canyon or a slippery bridge of ice melting before their eyes. History tells us that the greatest achievements are often triggered by adversity. The current younger generation has been betrayed, but they are still blessed to live in America.

For now, we remain a land where those with courage and conviction can still carve their destiny. That is important – the “American Dream” lasts only so long as we help our youth succeed with the “American Reality”….

• Carl Mumpower, a former member of Asheville City Council, may be contacted at drmumpower@aol.com

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Profiling

Continued from Page A1 Johnson, a UNCA graduate who presented Gabbidon, told the crowd, “I am both sad and happy at being able to introduce” him. She said she was sad because she was charged with shoplifting at Belk at the Asheville Mall, but “I am happy that when I went public with my story, the community — you —galvanized to support me.”

To that end, Johnson praised the UNCA Center for Diversity for using her incident “as a teachable moment.” and, because of that, “Dr. Gabbidon was invited to speak here.”

Gabbidon, who spoke for about an hour and then answered questions submitted to him in advance, said, “When I talk about race and crime, I talk about all races and ethnicities commiting crimes. All races commit crimes. There is no crime that any race doesn’t commit.”

He defined “consumer racial profiling” as “the act of discriminating against customers, by retailers, based on their race or ethnicentrity.” He said there are two kinds of such profiling — lack of service or being suspected as a thief.

As to the question of, “Where is the evidence of racial profiling?” he said, “There is evidence of racial profiling... I’m trying educate people more about consumer racial profiling.” He then reviewed charts and studies on profiling, which, he said, supports his contentions.

Gabbidon asserted, “We know very little about this.

Why? Because the private security system is closed.

They’re not a police department, so each time a situation likes this arises, it’s very difficult to get to this information.”

He also noted that he has a background in private security, from having worked in the industry. He left a

security manager position in 1993 to pursue his Ph.D. He added, “There’s no glory or glamour in shoplifting compared to murder, or other more serious crimes.

About a decade after he left the security industry, “I decided to explore the issue” or consumer racial profiling after an incident involving his wife-to-be. He delved into many aspects of shoplifting, including the history, contemporary problem, existing scholarly research and the black thief stereotype.

Gabbidon said, “Shoplifting has been around for centuries, notably beginning “in the 1500s, (with) the development of bazaars, markets, shops” and other venues. “Early thieves targeted silks, velvet and silver.”

With the rise of consumerism, Gabbidon said, “department stores were developed, leading to more shoplifting.” He added that “embarassment led to the creation of kleptomania diagnosis.” The problem,” he noted, “was most of the shoplifters were white women, who were part of the ruling class... Kleptomania allowed them to be absolved of their crimes,” but the diagnosis did not apply to lower classes. “The diagnosis removed moral judgment and traced their actions to their biology — or intrinsic urges out of their control.”

He cited statistics from 2011, sowing U.S. corporate retail chain losses — “shrinkage” — at $35.28 billion.

Of that amount, $19.94 billion was attributed to shoplifting, Gabbidon said.

“Where did this behavior (profiling minorities as thieves) originate?” he asked. “Yes, the South is a big part of it.” He said slavery led to the black thief stereotype.”

Near the end of his talk, Gabbidon said, “The question is: Have we progressed since the mid-20th century?

“I probably would agree there’s been some progress, but you would think there would have been more progress,” he noted. Many of the medical issues faced by blacks today may stem from stress resulting from years of facing consumer racial profiling, Gabbidon contended.

Backpack

Continued from Page A1 “While that was not the intent, the perception became reality. We support Grayson bringing the book bag to school.”

Administrators further offered to work with the Bruce family to design “a safety transition plan and an allowance for Grayson to bring the book bag to school.”

The school system is on the bandwagon for combating bullying.

Its web site states, “Buncombe County Schools strives to foster a climate of respect and personal responsibility among students, and does not tolerate bullying in any form.”

BCS Interim Director of Communications, Jason Rhodes, said a recent mishap in Wake County did not play into the administrators’ choice of action. On Jan. 23, 11-year-old Michael Morones was found unconscious after what appears to have been an attempt at hanging himself. He remains in Levine Children’s Hospital where he is receiving treatment for brain injuries.

Michael’s parents believe he was pushed to attempt suicide by bullying over his love for the “My Little Pony” cartoon.

Grayson’s mother finds it ironic that one of the few cartoons without violence or other forms of nastiness should be the cause of so much meanness. The cartoon is based on the storylines showing how the Six Elements of Harmony – kindness, generosity, honesty, laughter, loyalty, and magic – can get the ponies out of any predicament.

According to Rhodes, Grayson was re-enrolled in the school system on March 26 Following what Grayson’s mother referred to as a “heart-to-heart” with Superintendent Dr. Tony Baldwin and Director of Student Services David Thompson, Noreen will be involved in the creation of a Parent Advisory Council on Bullying, consistent with the school’s philosophy to make every event a teaching moment.

Rhodes had no updates on the status of that program as the Daily Planet went to press early March 28.

Faith Notes Send us your faith notes

Please submit items to the Faith Notes by noon on the third Wednesday of each month, via email, at spirituality@ashevilledailyplanet.com, or fax to 252-6567, or mail c/o The Daily Planet, P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 28814-8490. Submissions will be accepted and printed at the discretion of the editor, space permitting. To place an ad for a faith event, call 252-6565.

Tuesday, April 1

PUB CHAT, 6 p.m., Mezzaluna restaurant, 226 N. Main St., downtown Hendersonville. The Unity Center in Mills River will hold “Truth on Tap,” a pub chat will be held on matters spiritual and otherwise. The event is billed as “a great way to socialize as we explore the twists and turns of our spiritual paths. Enjoy the rich experience of sharing in the lively tradition of a pub discussion.” A love offering will be taken.

END TIMES CLASS, 6:30 p.m., Salvation Army, 239 3rd Ave. E, Hendersonville. “Understanding the End Times,” an eight-week class, will begin. Local author and teacher Shirley Frisbee will show how current events are a fulfillment of biblical prophecy.

BOOK STUDY, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Unity Center, 2041 Old Fanning Bridge Rd., Mills River. The “Daring Greatly” Book Study, which began March 25, will continue on Tuesdays through April 29. The study is based on Brené Brown’s book, “Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead.”

Wednesday, April 2

LENTEN SUPPER/WORSHIP SERVICE, 4:45-5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m., Grace Lutheran Church, 1245 Sixth Ave. W., Hendersonville. A weekly Lenten supper, including soup, salad and dessert, will be held weekly through April 9, beginning at 4:45 p.m. A worship service will follow at 6.

DAOIST TALK, 6 p.m., Daoist Traditions College of Chinese Medical Arts, 130 Sardis Rd., Asheville. Jeffrey Yuen will present “Planetary and Personal Healing With Chinese Medicine.” Daoism examines the relationship between all things. Yuen will address how individuals can cultivate wellness despite the stressors in our personal lives, community problems and larger global issues.

ALCHEMY CONCERT, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Unity Center, 2041 Old Fanning Bridge Rd., Mills River. The duo Alchemy, will perform music featuring didgeridoo, singing bowls, vocals and other instruments. For tickets, which are $20 in advance or $25 at the door, call the church at 891-8700.

Friday, April 4

CREATING HAPPINESS TALK, 7 p.m., Historic Henderson County Courthouse, Main Street, downtown Hendersonville. Buddhist nun Gen Kelsang Nyema will address “Creating Happiness: Inspiring Solutions for Difficult Times.” She will teach how to access one’s extraordinary potential for inner peace and happiness that lies within each individual’s mind.

win Place, Asheville. Buddy Mondlock will perform during the monthly Mountain Spirit Coffeehouse Concert.

PUB SING, 6-8 p.m., French Broad Brewery, 101

Fairview Road, Asheville. A Pub Sing, an old-time gospel jam session will be held. Those attending are asked to bring an instrument, or just their voices.

Sunday, April 6

STOP WORRYING CLASS, 7 p.m., Rainbow Community School, 574 Haywood Rd., Asheville. Buddhist teacher Sharon Lovich will address “Stop Worrying, Start Living: Meditations To Help Find Freedom From Anxiety, Worry and Fear.” The class will run through May 4 (with no class April 27). She will teach how one can overcome fear, anxiety and insecurity by using practical teachings and meditation. The fee is $8 for the general public and $5 for students and seniors.

Wednesday, April 9

HEALING CIRCLE, 7 p.m., Unity Center, 2041 Old Fanning Bridge Rd., Mills River. The healing circle is for healing of individuals in the Unity community. Unity healing practitioners will offer various healing modalities, including Reiki, Healing Touch, EFT, IET and prayer with the Unity Prayer chaplains. One of the founders of Unity, Myrtle Fillmore, once stated, “Everyone has the power to heal themselves.” The circle will enable an attendee to have a session with a practitioner and/or prayer chaplain, or sit in quiet contemplation. A love offering will be taken.

Thursday, April 10

SENIORSALT LUNCHEON, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., the Billy Graham Training Center @ The Cove, 1 Porters Cove Road, Asheville. A SeniorSalt Impact Luncheon will focus on those ages 55 and older, but anyone may attend. For tickets, which are $29, call 298-2092 or visit www.thecove.org.

Saturday, April 12

MIND-BODY-SPIRIT DAY, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., The Light Center, 2190 N.C. 9, Black Mountain. Mind-Body-Spirit Day will feature crystal bowls, Reiki circle and toning for peace and healing.

Sunday, April 13

MOUNTAIN SPIRIT COFFEEHOUSE CONCERT, 7 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Ed-

Covenant Reformed

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Unity Church of Asheville An Informal Spiritual Center of Practical Christianity for Everyday Living.

Bookstore Meeting Rooms

130 Shelburne Road West Asheville 252-5010 www.unityofasheville.com

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A Church Family for ONE and ALL Come as you are!

Sunday Services Sunday Services 10:00 a.m 9:30am & 11:00am Serving WNC for 60 years

891-8700 / 684-3798

2041 Old Fanning Bridge Rd. Mills River 28759 Rev. Chad O’Shea

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Asheville Daily Planet — April 2014 - A13

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A14 — April 2014 — Asheville Daily Planet

Esoterica

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A16 —April 2014 — Asheville Daily Planet

Calendar of Events and Concert Reviews

Special Section PULLOUT

B1

Asheville Daily Planet — April 2014

Special photos from Robin Thicke’s website

Robin Thicke (top left) especially sparkled in the encore with a moving rendition of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together,” which seemed to be a reference to his actress wife Paula Patton, with whom he reportedly began reconciling the day after his concert in Cherokee.

Concert review

Through the Thicke and the sin.....

By JOHN NORTH

john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com

CHEROKEE — The Blurred Lines Tour, featuring Robin Thicke and his flashy rhythm-and-blues band, performed an hour-long set, and a 15-minute encore, that left the predominately female crowd on its feet cheering for more March 14 in the Event Center at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort.

Thicke’s concert drew about 2,600 people, including an unusually high proportion of young and middle-aged women — an ironic twist in light of the high-octane criticisms leveled by some feminists that Thicke and the video of his bestselling song, “Blurred Lines” — the world’s most popular song of last summer — are degrading to women.

(Thicke has countered that the song “Blurred Lines” and the companion video that went viral were all done in fun.)

Despite the controversy, the ratio of women to men was “at least” 4:1 to see the dapper 37-year-old American-Canadian, according to a female Event Center crew member in an interview with the Daily Planet afterward.

More than a few of the fans could be observed making their smart phones a key part of their concert experience — shooting selfies before and during the show, shooting pictures of Thicke, texting and holding their phones up with the flashlight option on to signify their solidarity with the singer.

Also the female-dominated crowd spent much time on its feet, with many swaying in apparent ecstasy to Thicke’s sex-infused music and visuals. There also were persistent

female screams of approbation — reminiscent of Beatlemania — throughout the show.

The concert originally had been scheduled for Feb. 25, but was postponed — according to a TMZ Mobile Alert— on the heels of his separation from his wife, actress Paula Patton. The casino had said the postponement was “due to unforeseen circumstances.” However, the couple, once high school sweethearts, has since reportedly been on the path to reconciliation.

Thicke’s music and vocal styles have been described as heavily influenced by 1970s soul. Unsurprisingly, the singer named Marvin Gaye and Al Green among his main influences. Indeed, Thicke’s Cherokee performance affirmed the aforementioned preferences.

See THICKE, Page B7

Concert review

Ohio Players’ funk brings together black, white

By Dave Rowe

Special to the Daily Planet

Funk music from a durable source came to the U.S. Cellular Center in downtown Asheville on March 1.

The Ohio Players, a nine-piece AfricanAmerican band dating back to the early 1970s, played 90 minutes of its jazz-inflected rythym-and-blues to a small-butenthusiastic crowd.

The band — with a guitarist, bassist, two percussionists, two keyboards and horn section — began its set with “Skin Tight,” a popular chart-topper in 1974.

Several similar grooves followed, then came a slow-down, a song called “Heaven Must Be Like This,” featuring deep-blue stage lights, dry ice and tight harmony vocals.

Bassist Darwin Dark, one of the four original members of the band, then said “And now we’re going to do another of our biggest hits — “Love Rollercoaster.” It was

back to up-tempo and featured soloing on sax and on trumpet. This led up to the Ohio Players’ best-known song, “Fire.” (Both “Fire” and “Love Rollercoaster” were No. 1 hits for the band.)

There was an irony to “Fire” as the final selection — the show was a fund-raiser for the Asheville Area Firefighters, with proceeds going to a shelter for burned-out families and a program called “Warm Coats for Kids.”

The 7,200-seat venue was less then quarter-filled for the show, with about half the crowd being African-American. Toward the end of the Ohio Players set, many African-Americans danced next to whites in a pocket in front of the stage.

Chris Simmons, a white blues guitarist with three white side men, opened the show.

Simmons, an Alabama native, and his band churned through blues classics like “Crossroads” and then played “Halleluah Man,” a

File Photo

The Ohio Players brought on the funk during the group’s March 1 concert in Asheville. tune he co-wrote with Leon Russell. guitar was given to me by Leon Russell,” For five years, Simmons toured with who got it from (African-American blues Russell and, at the U.S. Cellular Center, icon) Freddie King. “It’s one of my proudhe held up one of his guitars, noting, “This est possessions,” Simmons said.

B2 - April 2014 - Asheville Daily Planet

Calendar

of

Events

Send us your calendar items

Please submit items to the Calendar of Events by noon on the third Wednesday of each month, via e-mail, at calendar@ashevilledailyplanet. com, or fax to 252-6567, or mail c/o The Daily Planet, P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 288148490. Submissions will be accepted and printed at the discretion of the editor, space permitting.

To place an ad for an event, call 252-6565.

Tuesday, April 1

BANK CHIEF’S TALK, 6 p.m., Western Carolina University, Biltmore Park, Asheville. Susan DeFerie, chief executive officer of Asheville Savings Bank, will speak in WCU’s weekly spring lecture series.

Her 40-minute talk will be followed by a questionand-answer period.

LECTURE, 6 p.m., Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall, UNC Asheville. “Music, Language and Mathematics” will be addressed by Alex Sabbeth, science educator and professional violinist. The event is free and open to the public.

LECTURE, 7:30 p.m., Reuter Center, UNC Asheville. The World Affairs Council will present an address on “Cuba in Reach?” General admission is $10.

Wednesday, April 2

FOOD POLICY MEETING, 6-8 p.m., Sherrill Center, UNC Asheville. A “meeting of the whole” of the Asheville-Buncombe Food Policy Council will be held. The meeting will provide an update about the ABFPC’s work, as well as ways one can support its efforts and priorities, and ways to get involved.

Also, a new member orientation will precede the meeting at 4 p.m.

BEYOND COAL MEETING, 7 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place, Asheville. The Sierra Club will host a program, “Beyond Coal: Success and Future Plans,” by Emma Greenbaum.

OPEN REHEARSAL, 7 p.m., Reuter Center, UNC Asheville.The Blue Ridge Orchestra, directed by Milton Crotts, will hold an open rehearsal. The event is free and open to the public.

Thursday, April 3

CONCERT, 6 p.m., Peterson Amphitheater, Tryon Fine Arts Center, 34 Melrose Ave., Tryon. The Aaron Burdett Band will perform. Donations will be accepted at the door.

RACE DIALOGUE, 6-7:30 p.m., Carver Center, 101 Carver Ave., Asheville. A “Dialogue on Race” will be held every Thursday in April. The four sessions lead up to the annual “Stand Against Racism” on the last weekend of April. The April 3 topic is “Racism Hurts Everyone,” covering definitions and a film on white privilege and institutional racism. Small group discussions will follow each presentation. A potluck dinner will be held following the four sessions.

LECTURE, 7 p.m., Humanities Lecture Hall, UNC Asheville. “Sisterhood Tweets and Blogs into the 21st Century” will be addressed by Robin Morgan, editor of the 1970 anthology, “Sisterhood Is Powerful.” Admission is free.

GREAT QUOTES PROGRAM, 7-9 p.m., Lake Point Landing, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville.

Belinda Eggen, coordinator of elementary education at Mars Hill University and a professor, will discuss the Jean Paul Richter quote: “Winter, which strips the leaves from around us/makes us see the distant regions they formerly concealed.” Richter suffered a spiritual crisis in Berlin in 1790, in which he had a vision of his own death, altered his outlook profoundly and prompted his writing of the book “The Invisible Lodge,” which was published in 1793.

Eggen will tell the background of the quote, including why it is important, and give some indication of how it could apply to contemporary lives. There will then be an exchange between the audience and the speaker, a discussion led by moderator Don Emon on how it relates to “applied philosophy”

TO REPORT AN ERROR

The Asheville Daily Planet strives to be accurate in all articles published. Contact the News Department at news@ashevilledailyplanet.com, (828) 252-6565, or P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 28814-8490.

and capped by the “last word” on the topic by the speaker. Admission is $5, with proceeds going to a general scholarship at MHU.

Friday, April 4

MODERNISM Lecture, 11:25 a.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. “Modernism” will be addressed by Lorena Russell, associate professor of literature; and Melodie Galloway, associate professor of music. Admission is free and open to the public.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY LECTURE, 11:25 p.m., Humanities Lecture Hall, UNC Asheville.

“Environmental Sustainability” will be addressed by Grace Campbell, humanities lecturer. Admission is free and open to the public.

Fab Friday at OLLI, 11:30 a.m., Reuter Center, UNC Asheville. “Patient Safety & Advocacy: How You Can Help Reduce Medical Errors” will be addressed by Lori Postal, recently retired director of nursing and patient safety officer at Duke Medical Center. Admission is free and open to the public.

Lunch is available in the Reuter Café and brown bags are welcome at the event.

JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL ENCORE MATINEE, 1 p.m., The Fine Arts Theater, 36 Biltmore Ave., downtown Asheville. The encore matinee for the festival’s screening of “Dancing in Jaffa” will be held. The film is about a renowned ballroom dancer, Pierre Dulaine, who takes his belief that dance can overcome political and cultural differences and puts it into action with 150 11-year-old Jewish and Palestinian Israelis.

A ticket for the encore matinee is $8.50.

CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, Franklin. The bluegrass band Balsam Range will perform in concert.

CONCERT, 8 p.m., Biltmore United Methodist Church, 376 Hendersonville Rd., Asheville. The Minguet String Quartet and pianist Andreas Klein will perform in a Chamber Music Series concert.

Tickets are $35 for the general public and free with identification for students age 24 and younger.

Thanks for reading the Asheville Daily Planet

Sunday, April 6

CONCERT, 4 p.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. The University Singers and Studio 18 Jazz Ensemble will perform in concert under the direction of Melodie Galloway. General admission is $5 and free for students with identification.

LECTURE, 7:30 p.m., Manheimer Room, Reuter Center, UNC Asheville. “The Stages of Memory: From Berlin to New York” will be addressed by Holocaust scholar James Young. The event is free and open to the public.

Monday, April 7

Humanities Lecture, 11:25 a.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. “Persia and the Hellenistic World” will be addressed by Jake Butera, assistant professor of Classics. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Humanities Lecture, 11:25 a.m., Humanities Lecture Hall, UNC Asheville. “Pre-Columbian Americas” will be addressed by Ellen Pearson, associate professor of history. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Tuesday, April 8

BUSINESS LEADER TALK, 6 p.m., Western Carolina University, Biltmore Park, Asheville. Maj. Gen. Richard Devereaux of the U.S. Air Force will speak in WCU’s weekly spring lecture series. His 40-minute talk will be followed by a question-andanswer period.

LIBERTARIAN MEETING, 7 p.m., Oakleaf Furniture, 130 Miller St., downtown Waynesville. The Haywood County Libertarian Party meets on the second Tuesday of the month. Open discussion and debate are encouraged, with all perspectives and persuasions welcomed, regardless of political or religious affiliation.

LECTURE, 7:30 p.m., Mountain View Room, Sherrill Center, UNC Asheville. “My So-Called Jewish Life” will be addressed by Jennifer Bleyer.

Admission is free and open to the public.

See CALENDAR, Page B3

Tell our advertisers — who enable us to bring you this newspaper for FREE every month — that you saw their promotions in the Daily Planet!

Asheville Daily Planet — April 2014 — B3

x

The Pedrito Martinez Group will perform at 8 p.m. April 11 in Diana Wortham Theatre in downtown Asheville.

Calendar of Events Continued from Page B2

Wednesday, April 9

LECTURE, 7 p.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. “The Right Treatment for the Right Patient at the Right Time: Personalized Medicine and Statistics” will be addressed by Marie Davidian of North Carolina State University in the annual Parsons Lecture. Admission is free and open to the public.

LECTURE, 7 p.m., Moore Auditorium, Mars Hill University, Mars Hill. Dr. June Atkinson, state superintendent of public instruction, will address current issues in education. Her lecture is titled “Fighting for Education on the Front Lines.”

SUSAN REINHARDT COMEDY SHOW, 7-9 p.m., The Mill Room, 66 Asheland Ave., Asheville. “An Evening With Susan Reinhardt” will feature columnist, author and radio personality Susan Reinhardt.

Among the highlights will be an impression of former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Pailin.

The comedy event is a benefit for WNC Health Advocates. For tickets, which are $20, call 243-6712.

STEEP CANYON RANGERS CONCERT, 8 p.m., Kimmel Arena, UNC Asheville. The Steep Canyon Rangers will perform in concert. The group was winner of the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album.

For tickets, which range from $11.50 to $34.50, visit arts.unca.edu/artsfest or call 258-7900.

Thursday, April 10

LECTURE, 3:30 p.m., 221-222 Highsmith University Union, UNC Asheville. “Gaining Global Justice” will be addressed by David Crane, former chief prosecutor for the Sierra Leone Special Tribunal.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

RACE DIALOGUE, 6-7:30 p.m., Carver Center, 101 Carver Ave., Asheville. A four-week “Dialogue on Race” will be held every Thursday in April. The four sessions lead up to the annual “Stand Against

Racism” on the last weekend of April. The April 10 topic is “Legacy of Slavery,” with a presentation on slave records by Drew Reisinger, Buncombe County register of deeds.

Friday, April 11

Humanities Lecture, 11:25 a.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. “The Rise of Totalitarianism and the Interwar Years” will be addrressed

by John McClain, humanities lecturer. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Humanities Lecture, 11:25 a.m., Humanities Lecture Hall, UNC Asheville. “Feminist Art” will be addressed by Eva Bares, department of art lecturer.

The event is free and open to the public.

Dance concert,12:45 p.m., Humanities Lecture Hall, UNC Asheville. The UNCA Dance Program will presents selections from the spring repertoire of premieres by students and faculty, as part of UNCA’s Arts Fest. It was originally presented at the Be Be Theatre in downtown Asheville. The event is free and open to the public.

CONCERT, 3:30 p.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. The EcoMusic Ensemble concert, directed

by Dr. William Bares, will present original music and film created this semester, as part of UNCA’s Arts Fest. The event is free and open to the public.

PERFORMANCE, 3:30 p.m., Humanities Lecture Hall, UNC Asheville. A performance of “The Happening” will be presented by UNCA students in Art of Public Speaking and Presentation class, inspired by Black Mountain College’s John Cage. The event is part of UNC Asheville’s Arts Fest. Admission is free and open to the public.

Poetry reading, 7 p.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. A poetry reading will be given by Joseph Bathanti, North Carolina poet laureate, as part of UNCA’s Arts Fest.

See CALENDAR, Page B4

B4 - April 2014 - Asheville Daily Planet

Calendar

for student with identification.

Monday, April 14

Continued from Page B3

Friday, April 11

CONCERT, 8 p.m., Diana Wortham Theatre, Pack Place, Pack Square, downtown Asheville. The Pedrito Martinez Group will perform. Martinez is billed as a “world-renowned Cuban conga player.”

He and his Peruvian, Venezuelan and Cuban bandmates comprise a “one-of-a-kind Afro-Cuban ensemble” whose shows have ignited a devoted fan base, including Eric Clapton, Taj Mahal and Wynton Marsalis. For tickets, visit www.dwtheatre.com.

Saturday, April 12

Arts Fest, 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Quad, UNC Asheville.

The UNCA Arts Fest will feature musical and dance performances, artists and crafters displaying and selling work on UNC Asheville’s quad. The event is free and open to the public.

MUSIC TECHNOLOGY OPEN HOUSE, noon-4 p.m., Moog Music Studio, Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. The UNCA Music Technology open house will offer an opportunity to try out theremins, synthesizers, and other gear, much of it designed by electronic music pioneer and former UNCA faculty member Bob Moog. The event is part of UNCA’s Arts Fest. Admission is free and open to the public.

LINCOLN-REAGAN DINNER, 6:30 p.m., Renaissance Hotel Asheville, 31 Woodfin St., downtown Asheville. The annual Lincoln-Reagan Dinner will feature Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., as its keynote speaker. Gowdy considers himself a “constitutional conservative.” His district includes much of the Upstate region, including Greenville and Spartanburg.

In addition, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest will serve as emcee. A reception will precede the dinner at 5 p.m. The affair will provide an opportunity to meet the local and statewide GOP candidates.

DAVID HOLT CONCERT, 7 p.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. Four-time Grammy winner David Holt and his band, The Lighting Bolts, will perform in concert. They are known for their reverence for the past as they perform music learned directly from “the greats,” such as Doc Watson, Grandpa Jones and 123-year-old Susie Brunson.

For tickets, which are $20 for the general public, $12 for campus community members, $7 for area students and $5 for UNCA students, visit www.

UNCAtickets.com.

CONCERT, 8 p.m., Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, downtown Asheville. The Asheville Symphony Orchestra will present “Trumpet Spectacular and Fireworks” with trumpeter Hayato Tanaka and the Asheville Symphony Chorus and the Western Carolina University Concert Choir, with music by Handel, Hummel and Haydn.

Sunday, April 13

CONCERT, 4 p.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. The UNCA Percussion Ensemble and African Drum Ensemble will perform in concert under the direction of Matthew Richmond and Agya Boakye-Boaten. General admission is $5 and free

Humanities Lecture, 11:25 a.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. “Rome” will be addressed by Brian Hook, associate professor of Classics. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Humanities Lecture, 11:25 a.m., Humanities Lecture Hall, UNC Asheville. “Emerging Nationhood at Othello” will be addressed by Gary Ettari, associate professor of literature. Admission is free and open to the public.

Wednesday, April 16

DINNER WITH PROGRESSIVES, 6-8 p.m., Green Sage Coffeehouse and Café, 1800 Hendersonville Rd., Asheville. A Dinner With Progressives will be held on the first Monday evening of every month through December. “There is a lot of work to do to try and create positive change” in Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina and the United States. The gathering will be for progressives “to have hope for a brighter future as well as a place to commiserate along the way.”

OPEN REHEARSAL, 7 p.m., Reuter Center, UNC Asheville. The Blue Ridge Orchestra will hold an open rehearsal that is free and open to the public.

Thursday, April 17

CRYSTAL BALL PROGRAM, 7 p.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. Crystal Ball XXX will feature predictions by prominent economists David W. Berson and James F. Smith on how the local, state, national and world economies will perform in the next 12 months. A 6:15 p.m. reception will precede the event in the Lipinsky lobby. The event is free and open to the public. To register, email kmoore@unca.edu.

Friday, April 18

Humanities Lecture, 11:25 a.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. “World War II and the Holocaust” will be addressed by Tracey Rizzo, associate professor of history; and Eric Roubinek, history lecturer. Admission is free and open to the public.

Humanities Lecture, 11:25 a.m., Humanities Lecture Hall, UNC Asheville. “Post Humanism” will be addressed by Bill Bares, assistant professor of music. Admission is free and open to the public.

Fab Friday at OLLI, 11:30 a.m., “Artisan Coffee: Globally Sourced, Locally Roasted” will be addressed by Andy Gibbon, co-owner and roastmaster of Dynamite Roasting Co. Admission is free and open to the public. Lunch is available in the Reuter Café and brown bags are welcome.

ENVIRONMENTAL LECTURE, 3-5 p.m., RiverLink offices, 170 Lyman St., River Arts District, Asheville. Dr. Frank Kalinowski will address “Environmental Legacies: Politics, Policy and American National Character.” He is a retired professor from Warren Wilson College and an author.

CONCERT, 8 p.m., Diana Wortham Theatre, Pack Place, Pack Square, downtown Asheville. The trio The Teetotallers will perform Celtic music in concert. For tickets, visit www.dwtheatre.com.

See CALENDAR, Page B5

Coming in May

Heritage Life Skills III Weekend Hands-On Classes

To register, visit www.CarolinaReadiness.com

May 16-18

Haywood County Fairgrounds 758 Crabtree Rd., Waynesville, N.C.

Come and join us for a weekend of learning!

RVs & Tents - Free camping. No electricity or showers available.

Classes being offered are:

Beekeeping Butchering Canning Meat* Canning Fruits/Vegetables* Cheesemaking Dehydrating Wound Care Dutch Oven Cooking Food Storage Sun Oven Cooking Candle Making* Battery-Based Solar System Bread Making* Healing Oils of the Bible

Herbal Salves, Tinctures, Teas* Perimeter Security Yurt Building Fire Starting* Archery Blacksmith/Knife-making Solar Greenhouse Preppers Medicine Chest Knot-Tying Secret Garden of Survival Map & Compass Navigation Tactical Radio Communications Silver and Gold 101 Basics of Prepping

Some classes will be limited — sign up for classes early.

Classes subject to change. *Minimal materials charge Bring pad & pens, and folding chairs.

If you make music— bring your instruments!

Saturday Night Speaker

Easter Service Sunday, April 20th, at 10:30AM at T.C. Roberson High School.

Also, Easter Egg Hunt the day before Location and time TBA.

(Starting at 7 p.m.)

Angry American — author of “Going Home” series

Carolina Readiness Supply Inc. Will you be ready when the lights go out?

More info on dnachurch.org, or call our church office at 828-619-0DNA. (zero D N A)

72 Montgomery St. Waynesville, N.C. 28786

(828) 456-5310

www.carolinareadiness.com

Calendar

of

Continued from Page B4

Events

Sunday, April 20

ETHICAL SOCIETY MEETING, 2-3:30 p.m., The Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood Road (near UNC Asheville), Asheville. “The 3 R’s: Education Issues in North Carolina” will be the subject of the monthly meeting of the Ethical Society of Asheville.

There will be a discussion period following the presentation. After the meeting, there will be time for informal conversation. Anyone may attend.

Monday, April 21

Humanities Lecture, 11:25 a.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. “Second Temple Judaism and Early Christianity” will be presented by Merritt Moseley, professor of literature. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Humanities Lecture, 11:25 a.m., Humanities Lecture Hall, UNC Asheville. “Becoming Baroque: Can we know them by their songs and dances?

Performing mirrors: reflections of war, turmoil, and the human spirit” will be addressed by Melodie Galloway, associate professor of music; and Connie Schrader, health and wellness lecturer. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Tuesday, April 22

CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. The UNCA Wind Ensemble & Symphony will present an “Earth Day” concert. The event will feature students and guest performers, directed by Milton Crotts. General admission is $5 and free for students with identification.

Wednesday, April 23

OPEN REHEARSAL, 7 p.m., Reuter Center, UNC Asheville. The Blue Ridge Orchestra will hold an open rehearsal. The community orchestra is directed by Milton Crotts.

Thursday, April 24

RACE DIALOGUE, 6-7:30 p.m., Carver Center, 101 Carver Ave., Asheville. A four-week “Dialogue on Race” will be held every Thursday in April. The four sessions lead up to the annual “Stand Against Racism” on the last weekend of April. The April 24 topic is “We Shall Overcome,” billed as an “uplifting film about unlikely friendship between an embittered Ku Klux Klan leader and an outspoken black woman activist in Durham, N.C.” A small-group discussion will follow each presentation. A potluck dinner will be held following the four sessions.

Sponsors include the Chamber of Commerce.

CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. The UNCA Jazz & Contemporary Music Ensembles and Studio 18 Vocal Jazz Ensemble will perform under the direction of William Bares, Brian Felix and Melodie Galloway. General admission is $5, and free for students.

CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, Franklin. The rock-country band Kevin Costner & Modern West will perform in concert.

RADIO SHOW SALUTE, 7:30 p.m., John C. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee. A re-creation of the radio show “Echoes of the Cotton Club” will be performed.

For tickets, which are $10, visit www.bardoartscenter.wcu.edu, or call 227-2479.

Friday, April 25

Asheville Daily Planet — April 2014 — B5

Humanities Lecture, 11:25 a.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville “1948” will be addressed by Duane Davis, professor of philosophy; and Grace Campbell, humanities lecturer. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Humanities Lecture, 11:25 a.m., Humanities Lecture Hall, UNC Asheville. “Reflections” will be addressed by a panel of UNCA faculty. The event is free and open to the public.

Fab Friday at OLLI, 11:30 a.m., Reuter Center, UNC Asheville. “Maximize Brain Health No Matter What Your Age” will be addressed by Dr. Mary Ammerman of The Institute for Applied Neuroscience.

The event is free and open to the public. Lunch is available in the Reuter Café and brown bags are welcome at the program.

CONCERT, 9 p.m., Event Center, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, Cherokee. The Band Perry will perform in concert.

Saturday, April 26

COMEDY SHOW, 7:30 p.m., Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, Franklin. The Southern Fried Chicks’ “Cage-Free” comedy show will be performed.

Sunday, April 27

Reader’s Theater, 2:30 p.m., Reuter Center, UNC Asheville. Asheville Community Theatre’s Autumn Players will present dramatic readings by experienced performers of “Last of the Aztecs”

by Joe Feinstein and directed by Wayne Wheeler.

Admission is $5 at the door.

CONCERT, 4 p.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. The UNCA Music Department Gala Concert – a festive end-of-year performance by many UNCA student ensembles — will be performed.

General admission is $5, and free for students.

Monday, April 28

Humanities Lecture, 11:25 a.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. “Silk Road” will be addressed by a panel of UNCA faculty. The event is free and open to the public.

Humanities Lecture, 11:25 a.m., Humanities Lecture Hall, UNC Asheville. “Where have we been?

Where are we? Where are we going? The Ebb and Flow of Empires” will be addressed by Ann Dunn and John McClain, humanities lecturers. The event is free and open to the public.

Every Monday is “Trivia Night” “Come compete for fantastic prizes”

Tuesday, April 29

Starts at 9 p.m.

CONCERT, 7 p.m., Tryon Fine Arts Center, Tryon.

Toubab Krewe with Kokanko Sata Doumbia will perform. The Asheville-based band is billed as an “instrumental powerhouse,” blending rock, African traditions, jazz sensibilities and international folk strains. For tickets, which are $20, visit www. tryonarts.org, or call 859-8322.

Tuesday night is “Blues Jam” Music and dancing starts at 10 p.m.

See CALENDAR, Page B6

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Every Wednesday is “Brewery Night” where we feature an array of high quality micro-brewed beers. “Buy a Pint, Keep the Glass!”

4/02 - High Wire Brewing

4/09 - Terrapin Beer Co. 4/16 - Sweet Water Brewing

4/23 - Foothills Brewing 4/30 - Highland Brewing

Saturdays and Sundays brunch starts at 10:30 and goes till we run out.

All-you-can-eat breakfast plus a full menu and omelette specials.

“Everyday lunch and dinner specials!”

We offer 27 beers on tap, a full liquor bar, freshly made eclectic food items with locally sourced ingredients, 2 pool tables, shuffleboard, foosball, video games, full service patio, a wide variety of sports on our 11’ screen and a kid-friendy (till 10pm), dog-friendly (on the patio) great time.

Saturday night bands:

4/5 “Jamboogie Band w/ Abe Reid” 4/12 “Brandon Reeves”

4/19 “Tonight’s Noise” 4/26 “Paul Edelman”

Thursday 4/10: “Max Melner @ Friends” 777 Haywood Road West Asheville 828-225-9782 www.westvillepub.com

B6 - April 2014 - Asheville Daily Planet

HUGE

spring clearance

SALE!

The Band Perry will perform at 9 p.m. April 25 at the Event Center at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in Cherokee.

Calendar

Continued from Page B5

Wednesday, April 30

OPEN REHEARSAL, 7 p.m., Reuter Center, UNC Asheville. The Blue Ridge Orchestra, directed by Milton Crotts, will hold an open rehearsal. The event is free and open to the public.

Friday, May 2

CONCERT, 8 p.m., Diana Wortham Theatre, Pack Place, Pack Square, downtown Asheville. Singer Cathie Ryan and her band will perform traditional tunes in concert. For tickets, visit www.dwtheatre. com.

CONCERT, 9 p.m., Event Center, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, Cherokee. The band Alice in Chains will perform in concert.

Saturday, May 3

CONCERT, 8 p.m., Diana Wortham Theatre, Pack Place, Pack Square, downtown Asheville. Singer and mandolin-player Sierra Hull and her band will perform bluegrass music in concert. For tickets, visit www.dwtheatre.com.

Saturday, May 10

CONCERT, 8 p.m., Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, downtown Asheville. The Asheville Symphony Orchestra will present “Rachmaninoff Piano Concert No. 2” with pianist Mariangela Vacatello and music

by Shostakovitch.

Friday, May 16

ENVIRONMENTAL LECTURE, 3-5 p.m., River-

Ham Radio Class April 3, Thursday, 6pm

Ammo Bunkers

Bug Out Bag Class April 8, Tuesday, 7pm

Aquaponics

“How to navigate with maps and compasses” and “Falling off the web, Internet safety and security”

April 26, Saturday, 1-3pm

Bug out bags Bulk foods Canning Camping Gardening

Link offices, 170 Lyman St., River Arts District, Asheville. Dr. Frank Kalinowski will address “Environmental Legacies: Politics, Policy and American National Character.” He is a retired professor from Warren Wilson College and an author.

CONCERT, 9 p.m., Event Center, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, Cherokee. The band Chicago will perform in concert.

Heirloom seeds Faraday bags

Saturday, May 17

ARTS FESTIVAL, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., downtown Saluda. The 11th annual Saluda Arts Festival will feature live music, as well as paintings, pottery, woodworking, sculpting, pottery, fiber, jewelry and metal.

In addition to plentiful parking and restrooms, there will be a Children’s Art Tent. Music headliners will be The Deluge, billed as “a whirling dervish of a band with a kinetic energy that leaves audiences swooning long afterward.” The band blends roots rock and soul. The festival also will bring back The Danberrys, a folk-bluegrass-America group; and Sweet Claudette, which combines four- and six-part harmonies, Motown-inspired backup vocals and an unusual combination of acoustic instruments: cello, banjo, melodica and guitar.

First aid kits

40-FT. BUNKER FOR SALE

Friday, May 30

ARTS FESTIVAL, 5-10 p.m., Sculpture and Performance Plaza, Riverside Drive, along the French Broad River, River Arts District, Asheville.

RiverLink will launch its 2014 RiverMusic Concert Series with Afrobeat, funk and soul from Orgone, with the Brooklyn band Emefe opening. Gates open at 5. Each show will feature a beer from two different breweries and food trucks.

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Asheville Daily Planet — April 2014 — B7

Thicke

Continued from Page B1 left the stage, along with his two backup singers, for the duration of the song.

The show opened with an Upon returning to the stage, Thicke announcer asserting, “Ladies launched into “Shadow of Doubt” — a and gentlemen, are you ready magical combination of arresting lyrics for the white man of soul? and imaginative melody — easily the best “Give it up, Cherokee, for song of the night, to that point.

Robin Thicke!” The crowd After the song got rousing applause, cheered loudly, with many the lights were turned down and Thicke attendees rising to their feet. noted, “This is a loud city. I like it. I feel From a cloud of fog, like we’re in Philadelphia....” He then Thicke appeared in a threewished some people in the crowd happy piece black suit and sunbirthdays and sang to them. glasses, as his all-black band Taking things a step further, Thicke launched into “Give It 2 U.” removed his jacket and walked from The band included a guitarist, the stage into the front row area, where bassist, two percussionists, a women could be seen excitedly stretching trombonist, trumpeter, saxoout their arms to touch him. He nimbly phonist, keyboardist and two kept on the move to avoid being mobbed. female backup singers.

After a few more songs, Thicke and The group kept the fast his band ended the regular show and left tempo going with “Magic” the stage. However, they soon returned as and other hits, but slowed the crowd, on its feet, pleaded for more down on about the fourth music. song, when Thicke sat at Much of the audience remained standthe piano to play and sing File Photo ing and roared with delight when Thicke a few numbers. He first Robin Thicke and his actress wife and crew returned for an encore that noted, though, that “we just included some soul hits from the past, want to make y’all feel good Paula Patton embrace at the 2013 MTV Music Awards. including Michael Jackson’s “Rock tonight.”

With You” and Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Throughout the concert, a Together.” strong part of the presentation of Thicke and his band was As opposed to the flash of the regular show, Thicke — the visuals — the terrific choreography, the twirling of the finally — seemed to really give it his all vocally, joined horns and other instruments in time to the music, the lightby his band doing its part, to dazzle the crowd musically ing and other effects. with renditions of the aforementioned two songs.

Alas, the music, often sounding bass-heavy and muddy, Given Thicke’s recent much-publicized grief over his seemed to — sadly — come second. However, that forwife’s breakup with him after eight years of marriage, mula proved to be a hit with the audience.

About halfway through the show, Thicke announced that his heart-felt rendition of “Let’s Stay Together” probably is as smashing — and profound — as one might ever the band would play a “Black Daddy” extended funk inhope to achieve with that song. strumental, during which he took a well-earned break and

Wearing just a black vest and trousers, Thicke stood, perhaps with a glint of true sadness, simply snapping his fingers and singing from his heart: “I’m... I’m so in love with you, / Whatever you want to do ... is all right with me.....”

During the chorus, he asked everyone to stand up, as he sang: “Ooo baby... / Let’s, let’s stay together.../ Loving you whether, whether / Times are good or bad, happy or sad....”

Continuing his in-depth vocal dig into “Let’s Stay Together,” Thicke then asked everyone to sing along, but most just stood in amazement at his exceptionally emotional and dramatically phrased singing of the following lyric: “Why, somebody, why people break-up / Ohhh, turn around a make-up / I just can’t deceive / You’d... never do that to me ... (would you, baby?) / Stayin’ around you is all I see....”

As more than a few people dabbed tears from their eyes, Thicke and his band then closed the encore with its most popular song, “Blurred Lines,” with the women in the crowd appearing to especially enjoy swaying to, and singing along with, the controversial and sexually suggestive song that remains immensely popular.

The opener, DJ Cassidy, performed for only 30 minutes, playing a hip-hop style mix of songs, based largely on soul and disco songs.

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B8 - April 2014 - Asheville Daily Planet