Mountain Xpress 01.20.21

OUR 27TH YEAR OF WEEKLY INDEPENDENT NEWS, ARTS & EVENTS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA VOL. 27 NO. 25 JAN. 20-26, 2021

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NEWS

FEATURES 12 PROGRESS REPORT City manager discusses next steps on Asheville street renaming, police budget

14 HEALTH ROUNDUP Dogwood Health Trust shifts board makeup; counties continue COVID-19 vaccine rollout; more

PAGE 8 MORALS OF THE STORY Ethics and economic development have been thrown into conflict by opponents of Buncombe County’s $27 million incentive to aerospace manufacturer Pratt & Whitney — a division of weapons supplier Raytheon Technologies.

On the cover: A technician works on a jet turbine at one of Pratt & Whitney’s facilities.

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COVER PHOTO Courtesy of Pratt & Whitney 15 DOUBLING DOWN SNAP incentives boost market sales for local farmers

COVER DESIGN Scott Southwick 4 LETTERS

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4 CARTOON: MOLTON 18 BRAVE NEW FRINGE Asheville Fringe Arts Festival embraces digital format

5 CARTOON: BRENT BROWN 6 COMMENTARY 8 NEWS 12 BUNCOMBE BEAT

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19 RESTAURANT WEEK 2021 Ninth annual event carries on in support of a struggling industry

13 COMMUNITY CALENDAR 14 HEALTH ROUNDUP 15 GREEN SCENE 17 ARTS & CULTURE

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20 CATCH A RISING STAR Local arts leaders spotlight creators to watch in 2021

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JAN. 20-26, 2021

3

OPINION

Send your letters to the editor to letters@mountainx.com.

A parent’s frustration at Asheville City Schools Just this morning, as I was going through sight words with my kindergartner at our dining room table, I became very frustrated at the fact that I have now been a teacher, along with a parent and a full-time health care provider, for almost a year now.

In my frustration, I shared my feelings with my kindergartner regarding the recent decision of Asheville City Schools to, yet again, delay in-person learning. Soon thereafter my kindergartner logged on for his virtual morning meeting on Google Meet. He promptly proceeded to share my feelings with his teacher and his entire class stating, after raising his hand and being called on, “My mom is mad at you.”

I shouted from the kitchen, “I’m not mad at your teacher,” and he corrected himself and said, “My mom is mad at the school. We should be in school.”

Below is the email I wrote to his teacher explaining my feelings.

“Subject: An explanation ...

Good morning!

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C A RT O O N B Y R AN DY M O L T O N Gosh, that was embarrassing …

I wanted to write to clarify how I am feeling. I hope you know that I am certainly not mad at you and know you likely feel as frustrated as we parents do. I was frustrated with [my son] this morning when he was guessing on his sight words and had a little outburst, which he misconstrued and thought I meant I was upset with you and with [his school], which I am not.

I am, however, very frustrated with how ACS has handled the situation. I feel that they have failed our children and their families, in keeping the children virtual for almost a year now. As a frontline essential worker, who has not stopped working with the community in-person from the beginning of all of this (and who has yet to contract COVID), I know that kids could have gone back to school safely in August and that they should have gone back at that time.

I am not arguing that our kids shouldn’t be home now, as the numbers are high and the hospitals are overwhelmed, but I am upset that they were not in school when community spread was low.

All the research shows that kids in schools have not contributed to community spread. I have every hope that in-person learning will resume in March, as planned, but very highly doubt it with all the delays and postponements we have experienced thus far. It’s disheartening.

All of this has been increasingly frustrating as tourists flock to

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our city and downtown is packed.

People are eating at restaurants, drinking at bars and shopping for pleasure, but our kids aren’t in school. It has reflected the values and priorities of this town to me in a disturbing glare — money is more important than our kids and their education.

So you’ve heard my rant, and I apologize for that and [my son’s] comment this morning. I know you had nothing to do with any of these decisions and that you might even agree with all of the above. I also imagine that this has been very difficult for you.

We appreciate you and all you’re doing for our kids.”

— Katie Lillethun Asheville

Cawthorn has already disqualified himself from Congress A person who takes constitutional office under oath and subsequently engages “in insurrection or rebellion against the same” or gives “aid or comfort to the enemies thereof” shall hold no office “under the United States or under any State.”

Amendment 14 is clear on this.

In the very first three days of his term, Rep. Madison Cawthorn disqualified himself from his position.

On Jan. 3, he swore to uphold the U.S. Constitution. By Jan. 6, he was busy denouncing the constitutional election process, advocating the overthrow of the presidential elec-

tion and helping to incite a deadly attack on the U.S. Congress.

That much took place in plain sight. Mr. Cawthorn is forsworn.

The investigation of the attack may reveal more. Mr. Cawthorn said that he went into the Jan. 6 congressional joint session carrying a concealed weapon, for “protection.”

House rules must have been fresh in Mr. Cawthorn’s mind. They forbid carrying arms in the chamber. What was Mr. Cawthorn anticipating?

An oath-breaker can be restored to office — another provision of Amendment 14. The requirement is a two-thirds vote in each house of Congress. I hope Mr. Cawthorn will begin seeking this redemption with even more energy than he has already devoted to mischief.

— Michael Garner Asheville

Expulsion from Congress Madison Cawthorn had quite the first week in Congress. He made a speech at the rally of the loser, which incited an insurgency against our country. Then he bragged about carrying a firearm during the riot he helped cause. If he has a lawful North Carolina concealed carry permit, it’s not valid in the District of Columbia and it’s furthermore illegal to carry a firearm in a federal building.

Then, like his fearful leader Donald Trumpinoff, he denied any responsibility for what his words helped spark. As a disabled military retiree with over 23 years of service, I think we the people of Western North Carolina deserve much better than Madison Cawthorn as our representative.

Barely after taking his oath of office to defend our Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, he calls for an insurgency against that same Constitution.

My hope is that when they start looking for people to charge in the aftermath of the events in Washington, they follow the trail right to the door of Madison Cawthorn and that he be expelled from Congress. That and that the sheriff who issued him a carry permit, if he has one, revoke that permit. … Quite the first week for a punk who should have never been elected in the first place.

Regretfully submitted, — Brad West Weaverville

CARTOON BY BRENT BROWN

Failing to find humor in dating story [Re:“From a Distance: What I’ve Learned About Dating in Asheville During a Pandemic,” Jan. 6, Xpress:] Kevin, it appears you forgot your article, “From a Distance” was in the Humor Issue, because after searching thoroughly, I failed to find any humor. Like actually any. I did, however, cringe a number of times.

First, you presume that dating during a pandemic should be easy.

It’s a fair concern, but of all the things that are difficult about this time, is your inability to get laid really deserving of its place at the top?

Also, we get it. You lived in NYC. Cool story, bro.

You might want to learn how to use the pejorative Karen correctly.

It most certainly does not mean women who are unwilling to meet up with you during a pandemic where, as I write this, over 4,000 people in the U.S. died yesterday.

It seems your ego bruises rather easily; I thought people from New York were supposed to be tough?

I’m surprised I need to say this, but you can’t compare dating in NYC to dating in Asheville. They’re

Big Apples and Orange Peels. Sorry, but it’s going to be different here.

There aren’t thousands of people to swipe on. Maybe the reason you’re superthirsty has little to do with the pandemic. Instead consider that it might be witticisms like, “There are a lot of butterfaces getting away with murder right now” that are making things tough for you.

That this article appeared in the same issue announcing layoffs of talented and far more thoughtful writers was particularly embarrassing. If the knee-jerk response is, “Lighten up, can’t you take a joke?,” why does it feel as though it’s coming from a very real place?

I suggest polling some women and ask if they find it funny. My guess is they threw up in their mouths a little.

— Ryan DuVal Asheville

Dating hopeful missed the memo on women [Re: “From a Distance: What I’ve Learned About Dating in Asheville During a Pandemic,” Jan. 6, Xpress] Attention, ladies of Asheville!

Our prayers have been answered: There’s a new self-righteous douche-

bro-with-a-hat from Brooklyn for us to immediately swipe left on!

It sounds like Kevin Miller missed the memo while he was LiViNg iT Up in NyC, but — Waking Life got shut down, and women are people now! Crazy, right?!

It’s dark times, but maybe if he stops thinking of women in terms of “butterfaces,” one of us females will finally agree to be his pen pal.

Signed, Not Me — Annie Frazier Asheville Editor’s response: Thank you for your feedback, along with that of the previous letter writer and the multitude of online commenters who shared their thoughts on Kevin Miller’s recent opinion piece in our annual Humor Issue. Humor is a tricky thing, and written humor even more so. It can be a way to shine a light on our community and its foibles — which is one reason we chose to publish this piece. But part of deploying humor effectively is reading the room, and it’s safe to say that neither Kevin nor the Xpress editors read Asheville’s room correctly in this case. We’re sorry for any offense that caused and hope you will not hate on us too long. We live and learn — and work at listening and empathizing — and hope you’ll keep reading Xpress.

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JAN. 20-26, 2021

5

OPINION

Enough is enough Local restaurants and their employees’ lives are being destroyed by government mandates

BY ERIC SCHEFFER

Dear city of Asheville mayor, City Council and city manager; Buncombe County Board of Commissioners chairman, Board of Commissioners and county manager (plus Asheville Independent Restaurant Association members and the media): I echo the sentiments of so many of my fellow culinarians, such as Michel Baudouin, owner of Bouchon downtown and RendezVous in East Asheville, and the rest of the hospitality community: Enough is enough!

You’re not to blame for these unprecedented times; however, you are responsible for the response or lack thereof.

My heart aches for my fellow restaurateurs, their employees and their families. Each day we are losing another restaurant, then another, then another.

We are being systematically destroyed by our local, state and federal government mandates.

These mandates are about optics, not facts. Why has no one spoken to our segment of the business community to attain the real facts?

Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, has said that no specific type of setting is responsible for the increase in cases and the virus’s spread, according to the News & Observer (avl.mx/8vs).

Meanwhile, research released in September by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the risks of eating in restaurants has been criticized as flawed. Among those critical voices is an N.C. State University food science expert who helped develop North Carolina’s program of best safety practices for restaurants during the pandemic, according to Raleigh’s WNCN (avl.mx/8vt).

Additionally, LAist, part of Southern California Public Radio, summarizes recent studies on the issue (avl.mx/8vu) and notes: “Still, none of these studies can definitively prove that restaurant dining causes infections, researchers say. That would require robust contact tracing.”

DIFFERENT STANDARDS

Why have other segments of our business community been given a pass or not held to the same mandated standards as restaurants are? These mandates affect our farmers, our poultry and beef grow6

JAN. 20-26, 2021

ers and our fishermen, to name a few in the state of North Carolina.

I spoke to managers and/or workers at seven major grocery stores and big box stores in Asheville, who spoke to me candidly, yet confidentially. All of the stores mentioned have an average of 600 to 1,800 customers per day, some even more. On Christmas Eve, the vast majority of those stores saw their customer base double, and in some cases, triple!

While each store has mandatory mask requirement signs, every manager told me that at least 10%-15% of their consumers refuse to wear masks, and they are not enforcing the mandate. A few points: • There is no social distancing enforced.

• There are no occupancy numbers enforced (except for one of them).

• There is no temperature checking.

• There is no regularly scheduled sanitizing of surfaces. For stores that have prepared foods and salad bars, there is no monitoring of exposed foods, prepared foods and/ or the salad bars. Utensils are being used over and over again, with no monitoring or sanitizing.

• There is no sanitizing or policing addressing individuals touching fruits and vegetables as they are fondled, then placed right back on shelves or bins they originated from.

• There is no cleaning of debit card machines after each use.

• Sanitizing of shopping carts is done when they have enough employees available, but not regularly anymore.

• Customers are allowed to touch computers, cellphones and electronics without sanitizing after each contact.

That’s just a small amount I learned on my own in a four-hour period of time!

Where’s the virus spread?

At one big box store, after asking a manager why so many people were not wearing masks, and there seemed to be no enforcement, her reaction was, “We are told if a customer is asked to put on a mask, and they refuse due to personal issues, we are not allowed to pursue or mandate they wear a mask.” Where’s the spread?

Why are the big box stores getting a pass?

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SINGLED OUT

Our industry has been one of the driving forces of our community’s financial success and an industry that has become the lifeblood of Asheville as a destination. We also are the most responsible when it comes to public health. We have to be; we are regulated to be.

Here is what I know: • The majority of restaurants, bars and breweries enforce and maintain a “no mask, no service” policy.

• The majority of restaurants, bars and breweries enforce sanitation procedures of cleaning every table after each use/service, to include bathrooms and all exposed surfaces on a regular schedule.

• The majority of restaurants, bars and breweries already follow strict health department rules for sanitizing all surfaces in the front and back of the house regularly. We are regulated to do so.

• Many restaurants are temperature checking.

• Many restaurants are contact tracing.

• The majority of restaurants, bars and breweries are successfully enforcing occupancy numbers.

• The majority of restaurants, bars and breweries have created spaces, both outdoor and inside, to allow for reasonable social distancing.

• Many restaurants, bars and breweries have installed air purification systems, costing the owners thousands of dollars.

• Many restaurants, bars and breweries have an entrance/exit policy to control the flow and to ensure social distancing.

• The majority of restaurants have instituted noncontact to-go services.

• The majority of restaurants, bars and breweries have complied with all mandates.

• The majority of restaurants, bars and breweries have an occupancy of 50 persons or fewer at any one given time.

• Restaurants, bars and breweries that contribute to charities and feeding the homeless are now stopped from helping an already underserved population that the county and city fall short of helping.

And yet, for optics, leaders state that we are the problem?

ANOTHER CRUEL BLOW

A reduction to 30% occupancy for restaurants: This is a real head-scratcher because it’s a mandate that is difficult to directly track results and will do nothing but deliver another cruel blow to so many who have been barely hanging on!

ERIC SCHEFFER Where is the science? Where are the facts? Where is the humanity in any of it?

Hospitality and culinary professionals are being mandated and regulated out of business for the sake of optics and at the senseless sacrifice of hardworking people and their families.

The ability of individuals to provide for their families and their employees is being taken away. Your constituents’ life savings and everything they have worked for is being destroyed. It is impossible for individuals to pay their rent and to feed their children.

Our local economy is being devastated.

All of this is without a plan to financially support those you mandated out of business, into a new life of poverty and homelessness!

The strategy has been to mandate, destroy and cripple, then we’ll figure out how and if we can financially support our community — all without a plan to deal with the mental health effects of long-term unemployment and loss of income.

All without simple dialogue with the hospitality and culinary professionals to see how we could work together to create a fact- and science-based approach to keeping our economy alive.

It takes courage to lead. It takes compassion to lead. Not self-interest, optics, politics and the worst of all: leaving us with a deafening silence from our leaders.

All while politicians — no matter whether local, state or federal — are still getting paid, getting access to health insurance and are still enjoying the perks of being politically privileged.

This is not about politics or the blame game. It’s not about Republicans or Democrats. It’s caring about your fellow human being.

I am begging you to stop the insanity and to be courageous and compassionate enough to save the lives that are being destroyed in Buncombe County.

Eric Scheffer is an Asheville resident of 26 years and has been a local restaurateur for over 21 years. X

A New Year Message from Blue Mountain Pizza As we enter into 2021, we are committed to continuing our public service programs for the community that we care so deeply about. We are determined to make the best of 2021 by working on fresh menu items— while maintaining old favorites— and constantly looking to find new ways to be better community members.

• • • •

We know people are struggling in the community, therefore if someone is hungry and in need of a hot meal we are willing to help out.

We also are offering hospital personnel and our fearless first responders a 25% discount on food items anytime (just bring a work related photo ID) Blue Mountain Pizza offers fresh food —made by our dedicated and kindhearted employees —at great prices. Depend upon it.

Check our website for continued updates and have no doubt that we will come out of this together as a community stronger than ever!

From the Blue Mountain family: Matt, Chris, Stephen, Jon, Nicole, William, Nick, Gemma, Jacob, Madison, Chelsea, Leigh, Brian, Kenneth, Turner and Nathaniel

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JAN. 20-26, 2021

7

NEWS

Controversial choices Debating the Pratt & Whitney project

BY MARK BARRETT markbarrett@charter.net Not many people would disagree that one of the jobs of Buncombe County government is improving the economic prospects of its citizens.

But there is disagreement over what steps the county should take toward that goal — and the morality of whether one of those steps should be luring a Pratt & Whitney manufacturing plant to South Asheville. The facility will employ as many as 800 people making jet engine components, about a fifth of which will go toward military uses.

County commissioners and other supporters say the jobs, paying an average of $68,000 a year, will provide opportunities for workers to improve their standards of living.

Critics say those wages are not worth the moral cost: bolstering a military-industrial complex that causes deaths half a world away and eats up government funds better spent on other needs.

In a county chronically concerned about the disconnect between high housing costs and low wages, especially in the tourism sector, there are usually few objections to economic development projects expected to pay significantly more than the county’s average weekly wage of $916. (Pratt & Whitney’s promised average wage works out to about $1,308 a week.) Other than a few complaints about the morality of alcohol when New Belgium Brewing announced its Asheville brewery in 2012, the ethics of businesses lured here by industrial recruiters typically have not been a big topic of debate.

The Pratt & Whitney project is different. Some of the jet engines the company makes will end up on warplanes used to project American power around the globe. And the company is a division of Raytheon Technologies, a Massachusettsbased firm that is one of the United States’ largest weapons suppliers.

Pratt & Whitney says about 80% of the turbine airfoils to be made at the plant, planned for land to the northeast of the Blue Ridge Parkway bridge over the French Broad River, will go to nonmilitary uses, and parent company Raytheon sells to both civilian and 8

JAN. 20-26, 2021

themselves. Poor people and the working poor are trapped in a service-oriented economy where the wages are low and the cost of living is high,” he said during the board’s Nov. 22 meeting.

“The positive impact this will have on many people’s lives is very significant,” Newman continued, citing the company’s high wages and spillover effects for other parts of the local economy.

Several other companies in Buncombe County make products for defense use, said Clark Duncan, executive director of the Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County.

They include parachute maker Mills Manufacturing in Woodfin, electrical components makers Kearfott in Black Mountain and TE Connectivity in Fairview.

Approval of the incentives package was probably the major hurdle facing the Pratt & Whitney project, but a steady drip of critical letters to the editor and other public comments has continued since the board’s November decision. That opposition appears to be well short of the numbers that would be needed to persuade commissioners to change course. Even leading critic Gerry Werhan, a West Asheville resident who leads the local Veterans for Peace chapter, says, “In my heart of hearts, I think it’s a done deal.”

JUST SAY NO: The local chapter of Veterans for Peace is among a handful of local groups opposing a jet engine components plant in South Asheville planned

by Pratt & Whitney, a division of Raytheon Technologies. About 30 people protested against the proposal downtown in December. Photo by Mark Barrett military customers. But critics say the project’s connection to the military is too close for comfort.

“I think it is unethical to make military equipment, period,” says Victoria Estes, a member of Reject Raytheon Asheville. The local group, which seeks to block the plan, says Buncombe commissioners “have blood on their hands” because of their unanimous approval of a package of up to $27 million in incentives for the company on Nov. 22.

MONEY MOVES

The incentive deal is structured so that the county’s payments will be covered by the additional property tax to be paid by Pratt &

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Whitney, a figure that would rise to $2.8 million a year by 2030 at the current tax rate if projections prove accurate. The exact amount the company will get will depend on how many jobs it creates and how much it invests in the plant.

Brownie Newman, chair of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, says that while he would like to see the United States spend less on its military, that decision is not the commissioners’ to make. Rejecting the plant would have no “direct bearing” on military spending, he said, while accepting it would address concerns about economic inequality in Buncombe County.

“Our community is changing into a place where only the wealthy are able to make a decent life for

MORAL MATTER

Projects like the Pratt & Whitney plant raise ethical questions that don’t necessarily have black-andwhite answers, says ethicist Mark Douglas, who has studied and written about issues related to the military and whether war can be ethical.

He is a professor of Christian ethics at Columbia Theological Seminary, a school in Decatur, Ga., affiliated with the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. “It’s very difficult to set generalizable rules,” he says.

Some mainline Protestant denominations will not invest their pension funds in arms makers like Raytheon, Douglas continues. Their policies represent a belief that the U.S. should set better spending priorities, he says, not a judgment that it is wrong to make weapons.

Someone could favor having a strong defense but oppose the production of particular weapons or their sale to foreign governments, Douglas says. Saying no one should build weapons at all implies that it is immoral to have any kind of national defense — or at least one

in which soldiers have anything to fight with besides their bare hands — a position few people would endorse.

Douglas says it’s perfectly legitimate for government officials and ordinary citizens to weigh the economic benefits of a project like the Pratt & Whitney plant against the degree to which it entangles an area with the military-industrial complex.

Plant supporters say its benefits will be considerable. If all 800 jobs at the plant materialize, another 183 will result from products and services Pratt & Whitney will buy from local companies, and 281 will result from increased spending in the region created by the company’s local annual payroll of nearly $55 million, says Tim Love, Buncombe County’s economic development director.

The lowest-paying jobs will pay $55,000 a year, and over 100 workers will get $112,000 annual salaries, according to Love’s figures.

Buncombe officials say those wages will have ripple effects in a county where average wages are 23%

ECONOMIC ENGINE: As many as 800 people could be employed at a Pratt & Whitney plant in South Asheville in jobs somewhat similar to those at the company’s facility in Middletown, Conn., shown here. Photo courtesy of Pratt & Whitney below the national average and 12% lower than the statewide figure.

“Because the wages are well above what is the norm here in Buncombe County, it is going to force other employers to step up and look at how much they are paying those who are already living and

In one pocket, out the other How the Pratt & Whitney incentives will work Some opponents of Buncombe County’s agreement to give Pratt & Whitney as much as $27 million to locate a manufacturing plant here say the county should instead spend that money on something else, such as tax breaks for small businesses or aid to those affected by COVID-19 and its resulting economic downturn.

There is a problem with that argument: There’s no $27 million if there’s no plant, says Clark Duncan, executive director for the Economic Development Coalition for AshevilleBuncombe County.

The deal is structured so that as Buncombe County makes incentive payments to Pratt & Whitney, Pratt & Whitney in turn makes property tax payments to Buncombe County. As county government takes money out of its left pocket to give to Pratt & Whitney, so to speak, the manufacturer gives the county money to put in its right pocket.

“This is new tax revenue that would not exist without that milestone investment,” emphasizes Duncan.

If Pratt & Whitney meets the investment and job creation targets set out in its deal with the county — and thus starts paying millions

of dollars in property taxes — it will get all of the promised incentives. If it doesn’t, the incentive amounts will be reduced proportionately.

And if the company decides next week to drop its plans and start making garden gnomes in Nebraska instead, the amount it will receive from Buncombe County will be $0.

The money is to be paid out annually over 14 years, according to a schedule described by Tim Love, head of economic development for Buncombe County, to county commissioners in November. Payments will begin at $2.6 million a year and stay at that level until they start declining in 2030. By that point, the county projects that Pratt & Whitney will have invested $530 million in the plant, a figure that would yield annual county property tax revenue of $2.8 million at the county’s current tax rate.

The local incentives add to $15.5 million that North Carolina state government will give Pratt & Whitney and $12 million to be spent by the Golden LEAF Foundation to build a bridge across the French Broad River leading to the plant site. As required by law, the state grant is less than the state

working here,” says Commissioner Amanda Edwards.

ARMS OR SCHOOLS?

Although opponents have raised many issues over the plant, including its potential contributions to

tax revenue the plant is expected to generate; like the county incentives, the payment will be lowered if Pratt and Whitney fails to meet job creation and investment targets.

Golden LEAF manages half of North Carolina’s proceeds from a 1998 settlement with cigarette makers. The bridge will also create access to other industrial sites around Pratt & Whitney’s plant, increasing the county’s ability to lure other large employers, Duncan says.

Biltmore Farms, the local development company that owns the Pratt & Whitney site and property around it, is donating the site to the manufacturer.

Paying government money to lure a private company is often controversial, and the incentives for Pratt and Whitney are no exception.

“Let Raytheon pay their own way,” local resident Rachel Bliss, told Buncombe County commissioners at their Nov. 22 meeting, at which they approved the incentives package. Pratt & Whitney is a division of Raytheon Technologies, one of the country’s largest defense contractors.

People involved in economic development say local governments have little choice but to offer incentives if they want to attract projects like the Pratt & Whitney plant. Other localities do, and companies can play off one against the other as local governments compete for jobs.

climate change and impact on views from the nearby Blue Ridge Parkway, concerns over the morality of weapons production lie at the heart of their objections.

Candler resident Roger Ehrlich says Pratt & Whitney’s presence in Buncombe County will make it harder for local officials to support reducing the nation’s military spending. That category makes up about 16% of the federal budget, says the Washington-based nonprofit Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. At $732 billion in fiscal year 2019, U.S. defense spending was far and away the most of any nation and exceeded the combined total of the next 10 nations’ defense budgets, according to the New York-based Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which advocates for better budget practices.

Werhan with Veterans for Peace puts the argument this way: “Every missile made represents another school that doesn’t get built.”

Reject Raytheon members decry American involvement in overseas

CONTINUES ON PAGE 10

“I don’t like doing any incentives,” Commissioner Joe Belcher said at the same meeting. “I wish that we didn’t do them across the country at all, if you want my personal preference, but that is not the world that we’re in.”

Critics like the Reject Raytheon Asheville group would prefer that the county help small businesses instead of making incentive payments to industrial giants like Pratt & Whitney.

Love says the county does have programs that target small businesses, including the Mountain Community Capital Fund, a partnership involving county government, city government and others that guarantees loans to entrepreneurs, typically in amounts between $5,000 and $70,000.

Of the roughly $10 million in incentives the county has approved for businesses other than Raytheon over the past five years, all but about $200,000 will go to businesses already located in the county that are expanding, Love adds.

Love says local businesses are sometimes not eligible for incentive payments because of restrictions in state law.

According to those rules, local governments can’t make incentive payments to some types of businesses, like retailers or those paying low wages, or fund projects that would happen regardless of additional government support.

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— Mark Barrett X

JAN. 20-26, 2021

9

N EWS conflicts and weapon sales made by Raytheon and other U.S. companies to foreign governments. Arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which is engaged in a civil war in Yemen, are a particular sticking point.

Groups such as Amnesty International say Saudi airstrikes have caused inordinate civilian deaths, and the United Nations and other organizations say the malnutrition and health issues caused by the conflict make it among the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

With bipartisan support, Congress passed legislation in 2019 to end arms sales to Saudi Arabia due to concerns about its actions in Yemen, but departing President Donald Trump vetoed the measure, arguing the sales help counter Iranian influence.

Raytheon, which did not respond to repeated requests for comment by deadline for this article, has sold arms to the Saudis. Sales of military products to foreign governments made up 7.6% of its total

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sales during the first nine months of 2020 and 3.2% during the same period in 2019, the company’s most recent quarterly report says.

Raytheon makes a wide variety of aerospace products for nonmilitary use, such as satellite parts and aircraft control systems, in addition to arms manufacturing.

Whether anything made at the South Asheville plant, where production is to begin in late 2022, will play a role in the Yemeni conflict is hard to predict. Some Pratt & Whitney jet engines have been sold to Boeing, which has in turn sold warplanes to Saudi Arabia, but the company says 80% of the local plant’s production will end up on civilian cargo jets, passenger airliners and other aircraft. Arms sales to foreign governments require federal approval, and the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden is expected to be less supportive of the Saudis’ involvement in Yemen.

Werhan said direct and indirect U.S. involvement in overseas situations like the Yemeni civil war is the main reason he opposes the Pratt & Whitney plant.

“Yes, we should defend ourselves, but defend the continental United States. There’s no need to go on military adventures around the world,” he said.

HERE OR THERE

People involved in bringing Pratt & Whitney here say, in essence, that

there is no “Good Jobs R Us” store where the county can simply pick up hundreds of jobs making solar panels or other renewable energy equipment and bring them home.

“These projects … don’t grow on trees. They’re not there for the taking,” Duncan said.

The exact number of communities competing with Buncombe County for the Pratt & Whitney plant remains unknown, but Love says the company considered a dozen sites in North Carolina and looked at offers from other states as well. Local officials had to sign a nondisclosure agreement prohibiting them from discussing Pratt & Whitney’s plans until the company’s decision to come to Buncombe County was announced, he says.

Some critics say the county should have extracted a pledge from Pratt & Whitney preventing it from selling the plant’s products for overseas use or to the military.

Love says those sorts of restrictions would remove the county from the competition for a project like the Pratt & Whitney plant: “Any company would have just frankly said no.”

Newman said at the Nov. 22 meeting that the county’s choice was simply whether to welcome Pratt & Whitney or not.

“Unfortunately, there’s not a long list of many different manufacturing companies who all want to locate in Western North Carolina,” he said. “Either this project will locate here or it will locate somewhere else.” X

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Campbell discusses next steps on Asheville street renaming, police budget As Asheville takes steps to reckon with its long history of systemic racism and economic inequity, local business owners are wondering what impacts the city’s ambitious initiatives will have on them.

Addressing the Council of Independent Business Owners, an Asheville-based trade group, on Jan. 15, Asheville City Manager Debra Campbell shared an update on her 30/60/90-day work plan to address racial inequality. Last summer was marked by a series of “extremely intense conversations with the community,” Campbell told the group, the most contentious of which concerned the Asheville Police Department budget.

Rehashing the events of the summer’s back-and-forth budget process over the Zoom call, Campbell reminded participants that she and City Council had only cut the APD budget by about 3%, far less than

the 50% reduction some activists had demanded. Conversations on next year’s budget will resume later this month.

Attendees posed a series of questions about department morale and APD body camera footage in the online meeting’s chat box; meeting moderator John Carroll only asked Campbell about current staffing levels. She replied that the department currently has about 50 vacancies.

Street renaming also ranks high among the city’s priorities, explained Ben Woody, Asheville’s director of development services.

City staff have identified 120 streets that share the name of a documented slaveholder, he said, though he assured attendees that not every flagged street would promptly change names.

“There’s a whole element of research that still needs to happen to make sure that the street is indeed named after a slaveholder and that we are correct in our assessment,” Woody said. “If the city does decide to change the name of the street, we will follow the statutory process to do so that involves public participation, a public hearing and City Council consideration.”

Asked if business owners will receive compensation to offset costs for marketing new business names and addresses necessitated by the street changes, Woody said the city hadn’t yet made that decision. “I agree that there is a cost for a business that has to reimagine branding, but I don’t think we know enough yet about what streets may change names and whether they have businesses on them,” he said.

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City officials are not considering changing the name of Asheville, Campbell added. The city is named after Samuel Ashe, an 18th-century North Carolina governor and slaveholder.

CIBO members also asked about the current status of the Vance Monument. In December, both Asheville City Council and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners voted to accept the Vance Monument Task Force’s recommendation to remove the monument. The city has requested bids for the cost of removal, Campbell said. She expects formal budgets to go before both elected bodies in the next month.

And city officials have not forgotten about their commitment to pursue reparations for Asheville’s Black community, Campbell emphasized.

Although the aforementioned initiatives are “related to reparations and repairing the harm that has been done to people in our community,” she said, the city and county are working to firm up the structure and responsibilities of a Reparations Commission, as established in the July Council resolution supporting reparations. These recommendations will be ready in the next 45 days, she said.

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PROGRESS REPORT: Asheville is making strides to address systemic racism and inequity, City Manager Debra Campbell told members of the Council of Independent Business Owners on Jan. 15. In the next 45 days, she expects to see plans for a Reparations Commission and cost estimates to remove the Vance Monument. Photo courtesy of the city of Asheville

COMMUNITY CALENDAR JAN. 20-29, 2021 For a full list of community calendar guidelines, please visit mountainx.com/calendar. For questions about free listings, call 828-251-1333, ext. 137.

For questions about paid calendar listings, please call 828-251-1333, ext. 320.

In-Person Events = Shaded All other events are virtual

ART Asheville Fringe Arts Festival Showcase of music, dance, drama, film, comedy, spoken word and more.

Ongoing (thru 1/24), ashevillefringe.org Cake Cake Cake: Baking as Resistance Sleight of Hand artist Yvette Mayorga in conversation with curator Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy at Center for Craft.

TH (1/21), 4pm, $5, avl.mx/8v2 Slow Art Friday: The Human Spirit Discussion led by touring docent Kay Dunn at Asheville Art Museum.

FR (1/22), 12pm, Registration required, $10, avl.mx/8w6 UNCA: Drawing Discourse Juried exhibition of contemporary drawing with a lecture

by Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum.

FR (1/22), 6pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8vh Asheville Art Museum: In Conversation Featuring American artist Robert Longo.

TH (1/28), 7pm, Registration required, $10, avl.mx/8w8

Slow Art Friday: Observation or Hidden Meaning Discussion led by touring docent Shana Hill at Asheville Art Museum.

FR (1/29), 12pm, Registration required, $10, avl.mx/8w7

MUSIC Short Takes: Lecretia Ann Live performance from Tryon Fine Arts Center.

TH (1/21), 6:30pm, $10, avl.mx/8v8 Mark Sterbank Group Jazz performance and artist talk presented

by Tryon Fine Arts Center.

SU (1/24), 4pm, $15, avl.mx/8ui

LITERARY Malaprop's Book Launch Abigail Harrison presents Dream Big! How to Reach for Your Stars.

TH (1/21), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8us Malaprop's Author Discussion Bob, Pam and Ashby Gale present A Beachcombers Guide to Fossils.

TH (1/28), 6pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8vz

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THEATER Magnetic U: Creating a Livestream Performance Led by Jessica Lynn Verdi.

MO (1/25), 6pm, Registration required, $30, avl.mx/8va The Magnetic Theatre: A Very Modern Marriage A farcical comedy directed by John Baldwin.

FR (1/29), 7:30pm, By donation, avl.mx/8vy

CLASSES, MEETINGS & EVENTS Kenilworth Celebration of MLK & Black History Month Daily content featuring local artists, chefs and business owners.

Ongoing (thru 2/1), Free, avl.mx/8vg Asheville Wisdom Exchange Featuring author and psychic Frank Mares.

WE (1/20), 7pm, Free, avl.mx/8u5 UNCA Research Presentation: PTSD Symptoms in Professional Firefighters Presented by Evelyn Chiang, Keith Cox and Kevin Riordan.

TH (1/21), 3pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8w1 Justice Matters Tour Behind the scenes at Pisgah Legal Services.

FR (1/22), 12pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7ur UNCA MLK Commemorative Panel: Pathways to Black Liberation, Grassroots to Government Featuring Sandra Kilgore, Antanette Mosely, London Newton and Bryan Thompson.

MO (1/25), 6pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8w0 UNCA MLK Commemoration: Reimagining Black Liberation Featuring Dr. Brittney Cooper, professor of Africana Studies at Rutgers.

TU (1/26), 7pm, Free, avl.mx/8u1

Leadership Asheville: Winter Buzz Breakfast Featuring Mitch Landrieu, author of In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History.

WE (1/27), 8:30am, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8vx Asheville Wisdom Exchange On grief with Dr. Kelly Rhoades.

WE (1/27), 7pm, Free, avl.mx/8u5 Pack Library: Spanish Conversation Group For adult language learners.

TH (1/28), 5pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8ty UNCA: How Race & Class Inequities Shape Pandemic Death Gaps Talk by Dr. Whitney Pirtle, professor of sociology at UC Merced.

TH (1/28), 7pm, Free, avl.mx/8u2 OLLI Fab Friday: The Crucial Role of Pollinators Led by wildlife biologist Bryan Tompkins.

FR (1/29), 11:30am, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8w3

FOOD & BEER Metro Wines: Blind Tasting League Led by Asheville School of Wine director Andy Hale.

WE (1/20), 5:30pm, Free, avl.mx/8v6 Burntshirt Vineyards: Wine Tasting with the Winemaker Led by Derek Pross.

FR (1/22), 5:30pm, Free, avl.mx/8vv Feed Our City: Free Meal Pop-up Featuring Gypsy Queen Cuisine.

SA (1/23), 10:30am-1pm, Free, Asheville Masonic Temple, 80 Broadway Blue Ridge Educational Foundation Beer Tasting Led by brewmaster Bryan McMahan.

Pre-order and pickup required.

FR (1/29), 7pm, $45, avl.mx/8vw

Wellness 2021 Issues

Publish Jan. 27 & Feb. 3

CIVICS Asheville Sustainability Advisory Committee Regular meeting.

WE (1/20), 3:30pm, avl.mx/89u City of Asheville: Introduction to the Office of Data & Performance Presented by Eric Jackson.

TH (1/21), 5:30pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8w4 Asheville City Council Formal meeting.

TU (1/26), 5pm, avl.mx/7b5 Buncombe County Board of Commissioners Special meeting.

TU (1/26), 5pm, avl.mx/4a8 League of Women Voters of Asheville-Buncombe Winter meeting featuring Eileen Reavey.

TU (1/26), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8w5

ECO & OUTDOOR Casting for Beginners Ages 12 and up.

Register: avl.mx/8v3.

WE (1/20), 1pm, Free, Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education, 1401 Fish Hatchery Rd, Pisgah Forest Asheville GreenWorks: Hard 2 Recycle Accepting styrofoam, electronics, books, batteries and cardboard.

SA (1/23), 10am, A-B Tech Enka Campus, 1459 Sand Hill Rd, Candler Intro to Fly-Fishing Ages 12 and up.

Register: avl.mx/prvd.

SA (1/23), 1pm, Free, Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education, 1401 Fish Hatchery Rd, Pisgah Forest

WELLNESS

SPIRITUALITY

OLLI Fab Friday: Avoiding Hip Fractures Led by Dr. Thomas Large.

FR (1/22), 11:30am, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8w2 Steady Collective Syringe Access Outreach Free naloxone, syringes and educational material on harm reduction.

TU (1/26), 2pm, Firestorm Books, 610 Haywood Rd Council on Aging: Introduction to Medicare How to avoid penalties and save money.

TH (1/28), 2pm, Registration required, Free, coabc.org

Baha'i Devotional: Nearer My God to Thee Devotional with prayer and music.

WE (1/20), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8vb Groce UMC: A Course in Miracles Group Study Register to get Zoom link: 828-712-5472.

MO (1/25), 6:30pm, Free

VOLUNTEER Edible Park Community Work Day Mulching, pruning and clearing invasive plants.

FR (1/22), 2:30pm, Dr. George Washington Carver Edible Park, 30 George Washington Carver Ave

CLUBLAND

Online Event= q WEDNESDAY, JAN. 20 HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Woody Wood (folk, blues), 6pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. French Broad Valley Mountain Music Jam, 6pm SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Witty Wednesday Trivia Night, 6:30pm CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE Schitt’s Creek Trivia Night, 7pm THE PAPER MILL LOUNGE Karaoke X, 7pm THE GREY EAGLE q The Travis Book Happy Hour, 7pm, avl.mx/8ut SOVEREIGN KAVA q Poetry Open Mic, 8pm, avl.mx/8uc

THURSDAY, JAN. 21 TRISKELION BREWING CO. Jason’s Technicolor Cabaret: Music & Comedy, 6pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Kid Billy (solo multi-instrumentalist), 6:30pm

FRIDAY, JAN. 22

SWEETEN CREEK BREWING The Lads (acoustic originals), 2pm

SATURDAY, JAN. 23 BURNTSHIRT VINEYARDS Sandy Herrault (violinist), 2pm

ISIS MUSIC HALL q

SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Pleasure Chest Duo (blues, soul, rock), 3:30pm

Tret Fure (folk), 7pm, avl.mx/8wc

MONDAY, JAN. 25 THE JOINT NEXT DOOR Blues Monday w/ Mr Jimmy, 6pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Gunslinging Parrots (Phish tribute), 5pm

WEHRLOOM MEADERY Music & Mead w/ Phantom Pantone DJ Collective, 4pm

TRISKELION BREWING CO. BucketList (R&B, rock, country), 6pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Jangling Sparrows (Americana, roots), 4pm

WXYZ BAR AT ALOFT Dirty Bird (pop fusion), 6pm

BATTERY PARK BOOK EXCHANGE Dinah’s Daydream (jazz), 5pm

CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE Kid Billy (solo multi-instrumentalist), 6pm

ISIS MUSIC HALL Django Reinhardt Birthday Celebration (jazz), 7pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. French Broad Valley Mountain Music Jam, 6pm

LAZY HIKER BREWING SYLVA Live Karaoke w/ Joel Plays Drums, 7pm

SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Witty Wednesday Trivia Night, 6:30pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. World’s Greatest Party Band, 7pm

THE PAPER MILL LOUNGE Karaoke X, 7pm

ISIS MUSIC HALL Seth Mulder & Midnight Run (bluegrass), 7pm LAZY HIKER BREWING SYLVA The Waymores (Americana, honky tonk), 7pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Seth & Sara (acoustic duo), 7pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Woody Wood (folk, blues), 6pm

THURSDAY, JAN. 28

SUNDAY, JAN. 24 SAINT PAUL MOUNTAIN VINEYARDS David Payne (solo acoustic), 2pm

MOUNTAINX.COM

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 27

TRISKELION BREWING CO. Jason's Technicolor Cabaret: Music & Comedy, 6pm

JAN. 20-26, 2021

13

HEALTH ROUNDUP

by Xpress Staff | news@mountainx.com

Dogwood Health Trust shifts board makeup Change is afoot on the board of the Dogwood Health Trust, Western North Carolina’s largest charitable organization. As Dr. John Ball, who also chaired the board of Mission Health before the nonprofit system’s purchase by HCA Healthcare and subsequent creation of the DHT, leaves the trust’s leadership, three new members from outside Buncombe County are joining.

From Transylvania County comes retired Rear Adm. Richard Houck, who has previously served on a committee that monitored the DHT’s compliance with the terms of the Mission sale.

The former Coast Guard leader brings extensive logistical experience to the board, including his role in coordinating joint military and law enforcement exercises after 9/11.

Fred Jones, a Franklin-based attorney with experience in real estate and corporate law, represents Macon County, while Bishop José McLoughlin of the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina represents Henderson County. McLoughlin also becomes the second Hispanic member of a board that has established equity as a fundamental commitment, joining fellow Henderson resident Vivian Bolaños on the 15-member body.

The personnel shift completes the changes stipulated by N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein as part of his approval for the Mission sale. In 2019, Stein had required that the DHT board reduce its Buncombe County representation to four members, down from a starting contingent of seven, and add five new members from other WNC counties by January of this year.

Area counties continue COVID-19 vaccine rollout While COVID-19 vaccine supplies remain well behind demand, Buncombe County and other WNC jurisdictions continue to distribute shots according to the vaccination schedule laid out by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. As of Jan. 14, all residents age 65 and older are eligible for the vaccine, a change from previous guidelines that reserved doses only for those 75 or older.

Buncombe health officials are currently able to distribute up to 4,000 doses per week, depending on state vaccine allocations, from the county’s vaccination site at A-B Tech. Those eligible for the shot can sign up online at avl.mx/8vl or by calling 828-250-5000 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m, Monday 14

JAN. 20-26, 2021

Participants can earn prizes for completing structured challenges in areas such as nutrition, exercise and community service. Registration is available through Sunday, Jan. 31, online at avl.mx/8vi or in person at the Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency and Canton Library.

Welcome to town

TRIPLE PLAY: From left, retired Rear Adm. Richard Houck, attorney Fred Jones and Bishop José McLoughlin are joining the board of the Dogwood Health Trust. Photos courtesy of DHT through Friday. Residents can also request to be notified when new appointments become available by texting BCALERT to 888777 or joining the county’s email list.

Information on vaccine sign-ups for other WNC counties in the Xpress coverage area are summarized below.

Many counties emphasize that supplies are limited and appointments may not be immediately available.

• Haywood: Pre-register for vaccination at avl.mx/8vk to be contacted by health officials once appointments are available.

• Henderson: Call the county health department at 828-585-4700 or Pardee UNC Health Care at 828-6948222 to schedule an appointment.

Online registration for the Pardee site is also available at YourShot.org.

• Jackson: Pre-register for vaccination at avl.mx/8vm or by calling 828-631-4357 to be contacted by health officials when appointments are available.

• Madison: Pre-register for vaccination by emailing COVID19@ MadisonCountyNC.gov and providing name, age, phone number, county of residence and email address.

Health officials will contact those on the email list when appointments are available.

• Polk: Those currently eligible for vaccination can pre-register for a clinic on Saturday, Jan. 23, at avl.mx/8vn.

Residents can also complete a survey at avl.mx/8vo or by phone at 828722-5086 to be notified when future appointments are available.

• Rutherford: Pre-register for vaccination at avl.mx/8vp to be contacted by health officials once appointments are available. Residents without internet access may call 828-223-5735.

• Transylvania: Sign up online at avl.mx/8vq or call 828-884-4007.

MOUNTAINX.COM

• Yancey: Pre-register for vaccination at avl.mx/8vr to be contacted by health officials once appointments are available.

Save the date

• In recognition of Human Trafficking Prevention and Awareness Month, Asheville-based nonprofit Our VOICE is hosting a free Human Trafficking 101 webinar at noon on Wednesday, Jan. 27. Registration is available at avl.mx/8vj.

• On Thursday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m., UNC Asheville will host a webinar on racial and class disparities in COVID-19 deaths. Presenter Whitney Pirtle is a professor of sociology at the University of California, Merced. More information and registration are available at avl.mx/8u2.

• Haywood County residents are invited to join Haywood 4 Good, a free communitywide wellness program running through June.

• Swain Community Hospital in Bryson City added Dr. Jonathan Motts to its family care team. Motts is currently a rural health fellow through the Mountain Area Health Education Center and completed a rural-focused family medicine residency in Washington state.

• Dr. Cathy Tong, an internal medicine physician, is now accepting patients at Pardee Medical Associates in Hendersonville. Tong specializes in women’s health, mental wellness and fitness, in which she also has a personal interest as an Ironman triathlete.

Pardee Cardiology Associates also welcomed Dr. Joe Moore to its Hendersonville staff.

• Emilee Lazo, a certified nurse midwife, joined the staff of Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva. The hospital is the only provider of labor and delivery services for the five WNC counties west of Jackson.

• A dventHealth Hematology Oncology Infusion Services in Hendersonville has hired nurse practitioner Brittany Starr Marlor.

Marlor comes to the hospital from Four Seasons hospice in Flat Rock.

• Skyterra Wellness Retreat opened a new campus in Pisgah Forest, replacing its former location in Lake Toxaway. Replacing the Glen Cannon golf course, the retreat features all-new buildings and 9 miles of walking trails. X

DAY IN THE SUNFLOWER: Amanda Dyer, center, a certified nursing assistant with AdventHealth Hendersonville’s intensive care unit, receives the hospital’s inaugural Sunflower Award for exceptional service. Photo courtesy of AdventHealth Hendersonville

GREEN SCENE

Doubling down

SNAP incentives boost market sales for local farmers

BY GINA SMITH ginasmithnews@gmail.com Surviving the erratic market shifts of the coronavirus pandemic has been a wild ride for Western North Carolina farmers, and for many, the sailing remains far from smooth.

But local programs aimed at helping food-insecure residents increase access to fresh, healthy food are offering some buoyancy to growers struggling to stay afloat in COVID19’s choppy economic waters.

Since 2009, the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project has helped tailgate markets throughout WNC accept federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits (formerly known as food stamps), with one of the nonprofit’s programs matching those benefits dollar for dollar on purchases of edible items.

Last summer, as COVID-19 drastically increased community need and upset farmers’ income streams, ASAP extended the Double SNAP initiative launched at the Asheville City Market in 2019 to include the East Asheville, Enka-Candler, North Asheville and West Asheville tailgate markets and expanded existing incentive programs at the Hendersonville, Mills River and Transylvania farmers markets.

According to a report ASAP released in December, Double SNAP incentives, combined with rising food insecurity, have dramatically increased sales for farmers and food vendors at all of those eight markets.

Market managers and vendors at the participating markets saw SNAP transactions nearly triple from 2019 to 2020, and 80% of responding vendors said they’d experienced sales growth due to the program.

“I always like to find promotions that have multiple winners, and this is one of them: the folks who’ve received the SNAP benefits and then all those dollars going to the farmers and vendors at the market, especially now with things being so challenging,” says ASAP farmers market program manager Mike McCreary, who helped coordinate efforts to expand Double SNAP.

TURN UP THE BEETS: Danielle Keeter, co-owner of Mighty Gnome Market Garden in Marshall, says a program that doubles SNAP benefits has helped her farm stay profitable through the pandemic. Photo by Camilla Calnan Photography, courtesy of ASAP items — fruit, vegetables, bread, meat, eggs, dairy products, seeds and garden starts — are benefiting greatly from Double SNAP, due to both an overall rise in the number of shoppers and higher sales totals. Meat vendors in particular, she adds, are seeing a huge spike in sales.

“I have this one family who has made it a point to tell me several times that they would never be able to afford this quality of meat if it weren’t for the Double SNAP program,” she says.

Those meat lovers aren’t alone: Among SNAP customers surveyed at the markets, 96% said they had changed their grocery-buying habits because of the incentive, with some shopping at a tailgate market for the first time. And half of the customers surveyed said they would continue to shop at local farmers markets even if the markets stopped doubling SNAP dollars.

While some markets cap the amount SNAP customers can double, the ASAP Farmers Market does not, so Double SNAP sales

can really add up. “Some larger families will come and spend $200 to receive $400,” says Hanford. “That’s not uncommon.”

‘IN SPITE OF EVERYTHING’

Lauren Wood, manager at Haywood’s Historic Farmers Market in Waynesville, also saw vendor sales increase in 2020 as more customers

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MEATY TRANSACTIONS

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took advantage of the Double Up Food Bucks SNAP incentive her market has offered in partnership with Macon County-based public health initiative MountainWise since 2019. She attributes part of that growth to the federal coronavirus relief package passed in March, which allowed some previously ineligible families with school-age children to qualify for SNAP. “That was a new group of people who had never had [Electronic Benefits Transfers cards] before but now could use it,” Wood says. “And I definitely saw new customers who were new to EBT because they’d recently lost their jobs.” That fresh crop of shoppers helped more than double the total SNAP and Double Up Food Bucks transactions at the market from $4,246 in 2019 to $10,658 in 2020.

Although SNAP benefits can be used at Haywood’s Historic Farmers Market to buy all kinds of edible items, Double Up Food Bucks dollars, which are funded through a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, can only be spent on fresh produce, seeds and plant starts. But that’s worked out just fine for Danielle Keeter, co-owner of Mighty Gnome Market Garden in Marshall.

Mighty Gnome had been selling organic vegetables and herbs at both the ASAP Farmers Market and Haywood’s Historic Farmers Market but consolidated its sales efforts at the Waynesville market starting in June. Between then and December, says Keeter, her farm saw three times as many Double Up sales as regular SNAP sales. “It was a great market season despite everything,” she says. “I’m just grateful that the program exists. Period. It’s been invaluable.”

DOUBLE VISION

Although the SNAP incentives are proving beneficial, their future at WNC markets is not assured. Double Up Food Bucks at Haywood’s Historic Farmers Market and several other markets will continue to be supported by federal funding and the Community Foundation of WNC through MountainWise through at least 2023. The USDA money is limited, however, and doesn’t allow for expansion to other sites.

ASAP’s Double SNAP is supported through donations from market shoppers and private donors, as well as grant funding from several area organizations. The ASAP Farmers Market and the Transylvania Farmers’ Market are open and will offer Double SNAP incentives through the winter, and ASAP plans to offer the program again at its participating markets in the spring.

But sustaining the program, says McCreary, is a big challenge.

“When COVID came, a whole bunch of money became available to help folks stay safe and be healthy and have access to food. But in 2022, will that still be the priority?” he asks. “There isn’t really a steady stream of funding for Double SNAP that you can count on over time.”

Keeter is keeping her fingers crossed. “I hope more than anything that it continues to get the funding that it needs to grow,” she says. “It’s really wonderful for us farmers, and it sounds like it’s really great for the people who use SNAP.” To support ASAP’s Double SNAP program, visit avl.mx/8vc. For details on MountainWise, visit avl.mx/8vd. X

ARTS & CULTURE

Hospitality in the time of COVID-19 Mask rage just one of the challenges restaurants face as the pandemic grinds on

BY KAY WEST kwest@mountainx.com Alex Knighten started working in food service at age 18 with her first job as a host at a South Asheville restaurant. More than a decade later, there’s still a lot she loves about the business, she says, but rudeness and disrespect from customers have always been a common drawback for front-ofhouse workers.

“The things people say and the way they act will leave you gob-smacked,” she says. “People get mad, they yell, they threaten; there’s a sense of entitlement that has built over the years.”

Before COVID-19, bad behavior from diners was an unavoidable annoyance that restaurant workers navigated as part of the job. But in pandemic times, the challenge of dealing with difficult customers is exacerbated by mask rage and compounded by the additional stressors of financial insecurity, the risk of contracting the virus on the job and the ongoing instability of the industry in general.

UP IN SMOKE

For many in the food and beverage industry, financial insecurity became a constant, nerve-racking reality overnight on March 17, when the state shuttered bars and dining rooms. At the time, Knighten had her dream job as front-of-house manager at Reza Setayesh’s restaurant BimBeriBon. “I loved the environment there, my work family and our regulars,” she remembers. But that dream went up in smoke with the stroke of Gov. Roy Cooper’s executive pen when BimBeriBon closed its dining room.

Knighten’s husband and their roommate — who also worked in the restaurant industry — were all in the same boat, scrambling to apply for unemployment and find other income opportunities. Although she says navigating the online application “was like pulling teeth and took a while,” all three were eventually approved. As a couple, Knighten and her husband decided he would stay home and pursue his degree as a full-time online student while she cobbled together some part-time jobs to supplement their benefits. “We are all high risk for various reasons, so I had to be really careful,” she says. “It was rough but we were able to get

THE EYES HAVE IT: Sean Cudmore, operations manager for Vinnie’s Neighborhood Italian and Jettie Rae’s Oyster House, says he has had to learn to smile with his eyes. Photo courtesy of Vinnie’s by.” Eventually she went back to work at Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ, which started serving from a food truck on Coxe Avenue in November.

Similarly, bartender Karina Lee — a mother of two — and her boyfriend/ housemate relied on the same employer, Poe House in Hendersonville, for income. When Poe’s closed temporarily in response to the shutdown in March, one of the things that drew her to the industry — cash in hand after every shift — was gone in a flash.

“Unemployment was hard to get, so we had no income for a month and a half. We were eking out ways to survive,” she recalls. “It was really scary.”

Unlike Knighten and Lee, Sean Cudmore did not have to miss a day of work last spring. But the position he had accepted in December 2019, as operations manager for Eric Scheffer’s planned venture Jettie Rae’s Oyster House, changed significantly when the pandemic caused the restaurant’s opening to be delayed by several months. Cudmore, who had worked as a server at Scheffer’s other eatery, Vinnie’s Neighborhood Italian, five years before, segued back to his old job, while also managing operations there.

“Vinnie’s moved to takeout only, and I became an order taker again. It’s

amazing how quickly that muscle memory comes back,” he says with a laugh.

MASKED AGGRESSION

Yet, while the mechanics of the systems were much the same as when he’d last worked at Vinnie’s, some of the things Cudmore loves most about hospitality — interacting with people and forming connections — were compromised by COVID-19 distancing and mask policies, sometimes testing his warm nature.

He sighs deeply when asked about the challenges of dealing with the public during the pandemic. The past year, he says, “required a lot of adaptation and flexibility,” particularly when Jettie Rae’s and Vinnie’s reopened for on-site dining. “There were a lot of new rules that needed to be communicated constantly and not a lot of time to fit those into the dining experience,” Cudmore explains.

When the restaurants started with counter service, staff discovered that in order for guests to follow the mask policy, it was necessary to repeat it three times: while waiting in line, at the counter and again at the table.

“We’ve been lucky to have gotten very

little pushback,” says Cudmore. “But I understand that is not the norm, and we have heard some horror stories around town.”

Lee, who eventually found a new job at Postero, a fine dining restaurant in Hendersonville, says some customers balk at the sign on the door saying masks are required for entry. “When I do a double [shift], I’m wearing a mask for 11 to 12 hours, yet they don’t want to put on one we provide for the 30 seconds it takes to walk from the door to their table,” she says. “If they refuse, we can refuse them entry, but they [might] leave and post a terrible Yelp review. So, you weigh the risks of losing business you need to survive or risking your health. It’s not a good choice.”

Michelle Bailey, executive chef at Smoky Park Supper Club, says the industry as a whole has faced “a pile of crappy choices.” After the initial state dining room shutdown in March, her restaurant remained closed entirely until August, then reopened for outdoor dining and take-away only with a revised menu of dishes that could be put in a box and eaten with biodegradable cutlery.

“We had people get really angry with us for not opening our dining room, but that was the right choice for us,” she says. Smoky Park is currently closed until March.

DISCONNECTED Chef William Dissen, owner since 2009 of the 41-year-old Market Place restaurant on Wall Street, closed his restaurant completely for some time, then started offering takeout in May before reopening for outdoor and indoor dining June 10. “One of the biggest challenges was getting enough staff back,” he says. “I get it: Everyone has to make a decision for themselves.

But I had to reopen my restaurant because it supports me, my family, farmers and other suppliers.”

Dissen says seeing people return to the dining room was glorious. “I missed that Saturday night feel of a packed bar, live music and tables full of friends eating, drinking, laughing and talking,” he says. “We are in the business of hospitality, of giving guests a respite from the world outside.”

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ART S & C U L T U R E

THEATER But guests are not always hospitable in return. “This year, my opinions of people have been tested,” Dissen admits. “Most people who come in are kind and respectful, but the ones who act horribly are really, really horrible. I have had to kick more people out of the restaurant and call the police on more people this last year than the whole 11 years before that.”

The physical distance staff must keep from one another and the disconnect from guests, particularly regulars, is psychologically tough on the kitchen staff, says Bailey. “We miss getting that gratification of hearing from a server how much guests loved a dish or their meal. We miss regulars waving at us as they come in or leave. We miss those connections that restaurants create.”

Knighten says that at her new job at Bear’s Smokehouse, she also misses personal connections. “It’s hard to get to know the people you work with under the current restrictions,” she says. “Because of masks, I’ve only seen one-third of their faces. It’s pretty surreal.”

Cudmore has struggled with the limits masks place on hospitality workers as well. “I have a very expressive face, and I’ve had to learn to transfer that to my eyes and tone of voice,” he explains.

Noticing that small children seem to be afraid of staff members wearing face coverings, Cudmore bought some masks decorated with giraffes and elephants. “What we are doing is important,” he says. “We want to welcome people as warmly and comfortably as before, even if it’s from a little farther away.”

Dissen urges diners to return that warmth. “Restaurant workers are under an exorbitant amount of stress,” he points out. “I would implore people to be kind, to be patient and to be generous. We are going to stick with it and get through to the other side.

And when we do, I’m going to throw the biggest party I’ve ever thrown in my life.” X

Brave new fringe

Asheville Fringe Arts Festival embraces digital format Like all live theater, the performances selected for each year’s Asheville Fringe Arts Festival are intended to be experienced in person, alongside fellow appreciators of experimental works. But with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic making such gatherings impractical, festival organizers are following the creative leads of their collaborators and bringing these unusual offerings to audiences in Western North Carolina and around the world.

For its 19th iteration, Asheville Fringe will present a predominantly digital slate, Wednesday, Jan. 20-Sunday, Jan. 24. Katie Jones, who serves as co-artistic director with Erinn Hartley, says that the shift to online home viewing — featuring a mix of prerecorded and livestreamed shows — gives participants the opportunity to enjoy more acts than usual since they won’t have to travel from venue to venue. And while the traditional sense of community will be missed in 2021, Jones is confident that the benefits of a digital festival will make for a distinctly engaging and memorable week.

“It really opened up who we were able to work with,” Jones says, noting that this year’s performers include participants from Italy and Malaysia. The virtual format also inspired the launch of an international film festival, a curated puppet slam and multiple interactive programs.

Among the standouts in the final category is “#txtshow,” in which Brian Feldman, portraying

You know us in print each week,

TEXT TO TALK: The interactive “#txtshow” by Brian Feldman, center, is one of numerous 2021 Asheville Fringe Arts Festival performances that utilize the potential of the digital setting. Photo courtesy of Asheville Fringe a “humorless” character named txt, reads whatever audience members type into the Zoom chat box.

“It seems so basic, but it’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen,” Jones says. “He’s really charismatic, and he does such a good job because he’s completely deadpan

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about everything he says, and so people can really take advantage in a great way.”

Along with the plentiful online choices, there will be two socially distanced, outdoor Random Acts of Fringe. In ticketed events on Wednesday, Jan. 20, and Thursday, Jan. 21, at 7 p.m., Susan and Giles Collard of Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre will meet up to 10 people outside the BeBe Theatre, then walk to an undisclosed location for a guerrilla dance performance. And on Saturday, Jan. 23, at noon, Butoh dancer Jenni Cockrell presents “residuum,” a free, threehour improvised durational dance performance, during which viewers may come and go as they please.

A $65 Freak Pass provides access to the entire festival, and threeshow passes are available for $30.

Individual show tickets cost $12 each. ashevillefringe.org

— Edwin Arnaudin X

FOOD

Restaurant Week 2021

COMFORT FOOD

BREAKFAST ALL DAY

The 9th annual event carries on in support of a struggling industry Asheville Restaurant Week was created nearly a decade ago to support local restaurants through the slow winter season. Traditionally held in late January or early February by the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Explore Asheville, the event provides an online platform and marketing materials for restaurants to promote special menus and price points geared toward locals.

This year, although almost nothing looks the same as it did 12 months ago, Asheville Restaurant Week will go on as usual but with a great emphasis on takeout, says Erin Leonard, vice president of communications with the chamber. So, pull out that empty

calendar and mark Tuesday-Monday, Jan. 19-25, as the window to catch specials, such as a $15 lunch package from Mountain Madre, three courses from La Bodega by Cúrate for $15, a three-course dinner for two for $40 at Sawhorse and many more options from over 40 participating restaurants.

“We are seeing great creativity as we always do from Asheville chefs and restaurateurs,” says Leonard.

“Now, more than ever, we want to celebrate and support our great local food scene.”

For participating restaurants and special menus, visit avl.mx/5k3.

— Kay West X

DAILY SPECIALS NEW HOURS Sun. - Mon. • 8am - 4pm Limited capacity dine-in, take-out and delivery.

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tasteedinernc.com FIT TO BE PIED: A hearty meat pie is one of three courses on Sawhorse’s Ashville Restaurant Week menu. Photo courtesy Sawhorse

575 Haywood Rd. West Asheville

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AR T S & C UL T U R E

Catch a rising star Local arts leaders spotlight creators to watch in 2021 Xpress asked local arts leaders in various mediums to identify up-and-coming or underseen peers that readers should be on the lookout for in 2021. They did not disappoint.

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• Cortina Caldwell, founder and creative force behind adé PROJECT, just spent the last half of 2020 facilitating the Vance Monument Task Force. She also led community conversations around the now-concluded Broadway Cultural Gateway project, and the Celebrating African Americans through Public Art project — a subcommittee of the Public Art and Cultural Commission that resulted in the Hope Springs Forth Brightly installations in front of the fire station and at the corner of Biltmore Avenue and Eagle Street.

I expect we will see more from her as the Vance Monument discussion continues into 2021.

sonalize each piece for a customer, making it a unique and precious work to have.

• Editor’s note: All four creators are based in the River Arts District, and work by Kulish, Chilian and Calaycay may be viewed in the “In Solidarity” exhibition through April at the Pink Dog Gallery and online.

Kulish, who is leading in-person workshops for four people or fewer this spring, says that the exhibition has thus far raised $7,670 for such nonprofits as Black Lives Matter.

KATIE CORNELL Katie Cornell, Asheville Area Arts Council executive director: • Marsha Almodovar is the community engagement director at LEAF Global Arts. Through the Easel Rider mobile art lab and other virtual programs, she’s making sure that children across the county have access to arts programs during this time of isolation. She is also a driving force behind racial equity reforms in the arts sector, using her extensive Racial Equity Institute training to help advise LEAF, as well as the city’s Public Art and Cultural Commission and the Asheville Downtown Association by serving on both groups’ boards of directors. We served together on the Celebrating African Americans through Public Art leadership team, and she was also part of the leadership team for the Black Live Matter mural in Pack Square.

• I n 2020, Sekou Coleman became executive director of the Asheville Writers in the Schools & Community. Over the years, he’s led many local initiatives and understands the importance of the arts on community health. In his new role, he’s expanding AWITSC programs in exciting ways, including most recently leading the organization’s move to the Edington Center.

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HEATHER MALOY

JOSEPH PEARSON Joseph Pearson, painter, lead artist of Asheville Black Lives Matter mural: • Andrea Kulish’s pysanky egg process is mind-blowing to watch — how she creates such intricate designs on such a small and fragile surface. In addition, she’s telling an important and historic story at the same time. These are keepsakes and family heirloom works.

• Leslie Rowland’s mixed media works are organic and so reflective of nature and the natural environment — one has to step back and seriously reflect on our connections to our surroundings.

• Deanna Chilian is a friend and former neighbor. What I love about her abstract [painting] is its organization, use of color and space that creates a sense of excitement and reflection.

• Christie Calaycay’s jewelry are handcrafted masterpieces. They’re intricate and delicate, yet strong and durable. She’s able to per-

Heather Maloy, Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance artistic director: • Husband-and-wife team Gavin Stewart and Vanessa Owen are the remarkably talented dancers and choreographers behind Stewart/ Owen Dance. All of their work is strong, but they achieved something truly unique in November with “Still Life.” This creative walkthrough dance experience utilized the entirety of the new Wortham Center for the Performing Arts and the talents of local dancers in a way that felt extremely intimate while remaining distanced and safe. You were closer to the dancers than you would be in a traditional theater setting, pulling you into their world in a more comprehensive way, with just enough separation to remind you that it was still November 2020.

The result was both heart-wrenching and inspirational — a shining light in a dark tunnel proving once again that the creative spirit can, and will, prevail. Gavin and Vanessa are currently working on multiple new works and figuring out when and where to produce them.

TONY ROBLES Tony Robles, Carl Sandburg Home National Historical Site writer-in-residence: • Victoria Lyall’s debut novel, Hunt Your Own, is an engaging tale of three women clashing and connecting over ginseng, family and the future of Appalachia. Her work seeks to forge bonds with indigenous communities, showing our common humanity and beauty through story.

• Such themes also exist in the work of Melanie McGee Bianchi, whose story “Ballad of Cherrystoke” was recently published in the Mississippi Review. She brings a depth to her characters that gives voice to our neighbors and community, articulating what oftentimes goes unsaid.

• The poetry of Hendersonville native Crystal Cauley brings to life and honors the African American community in the area. She is the founder of the Black History Collective of Henderson County, and her poetry is centered on not forgetting the legacy of African Americans whose spirit inhabits the soil, the air, the trees — the heart of the community.

JESSICA JOHNSON Jessica Johnson, The Magnetic Theatre executive director: • Actor Aaron Ybarra has the most positive, enthusiastic energy of

anyone I’ve encountered. He loves performing, and you can feel his passion whenever you work with him or watch him on stage. He is always ready to lend a hand, provide words of encouragement or try something new during a rehearsal process. As a director, I appreciate working with Aaron, who genuinely listens to feedback and isn’t afraid to offer his own thoughts or ask questions.

• A na-Alicia Carroll is a gift to our local theater community. Her intuition is usually spot-on, and she can adapt to a wide range of characters. Ana has a uniqueness about her that simultaneously makes her performances stay with you while also allowing you to see her play vastly different characters and wonder why you haven’t seen her before. She is always all-in when it comes to developing a character, and it is such a pleasure to watch her perform.

• Neither actor has anything specifically scheduled yet, but both are expecting to have projects coming up in the next few months.

JOSH BLAKE Josh Blake, musician, engineer, producer: • Christie Lenée just moved here — a world-class fingerpicking guitar player with a virtuosic style. She’s won several international awards for her skills and is eager to connect with the folks in her new hometown.

• A nother inspiring local artist is Virtuous. She’s an insanely talented MC and vocalist who is always putting out content laced with positivity and personality.

She’s a voice the world needs right now.

• T here’s also a killer new duo bubbling called Tü Koyote, featuring two of our city’s most gifted drummers, Ted Marks and Jaze Uries. Jaze takes a break

from behind the kit for this pop duo, playing the surprisingly fitting role of lead vocalist — a brilliant revelation. Ted is a multitalented producer who’s obviously paying close attention to crafting the infectious grooves of this combo.

• L ast, keep your eyes out for Chilltonic, a trio fronted by Teso McDonald, who cut his teeth playing the streets of Asheville.

You may have caught them at the beginning of the pandemic, rolling through downtown jamming on a flatbed truck, and I hope we get to see them doing it some more as the cold weather lifts.

Their presence on the streets would be a much-needed spark to set our city’s music scene back into action for the spring and summer seasons.

— Edwin Arnaudin X

MOVIE LISTINGS The Mountain Xpress Movie section’s run has come to an end, but reviews by hosts Bruce Steele and Edwin Arnaudin — aka the Asheville Movie Guys — will continue online at AshevilleMovies.com.

This week’s reviews of new films available to view via local theaters and popular streaming services include: ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI: Regina King makes an impressive feature directorial debut with this adaptation of Kemp Powers’ stage play, which fictionalizes a 1964 meeting between Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay), Sam Cooke and Jim Brown. Grade: B-plus. Rated R SOME KIND OF HEAVEN: Director Lance Oppenheim profiles a handful of residents at Florida’s giant The Villages retirement community in this gripping, beautifully filmed documentary.

Grade: B-plus. Not rated

Find full reviews and local film info at ashevillemovies.com patreon.com/ashevillemovies

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FREEWILL ASTROLOGY ARIES (March 21-April 19): On May 4, 2019, my Aries friend Leah woke up in a state of amazement. During the night, she felt she had miraculously become completely enlightened.

Over the next 16 hours, she understood her life perfectly. Everything made sense to her.

She was in love with every person and animal she knew. But by the next morning, the exalted serenity had faded, and she realized that her enlightenment had been temporary. She wasn’t mad or sad, however. The experience shook her up so delightfully that she vowed to forevermore seek to recreate the condition she had enjoyed.

Recently she told me that on virtually every day since May 4, 2019, she has spent at least a few minutes, and sometimes much longer, exulting in the same ecstatic peace that visited her back then. That’s the Aries way: turning a surprise, spontaneous blessing into a permanent breakthrough. I trust you will do that soon.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): One morning, famous French army general Hubert Lyautey (1854–1934) instructed his gardener to spend the next day planting a row of saplings on his property. The gardener agreed, but advised Lyautey that this particular species of tree required 100 years to fully mature. “In that case,” Lyautey said, “plant them now.” I recommend that you, too, expedite your long-term plans, Taurus.

Astrologically speaking, the time is ripe for you to take crisp action to fulfill your big dreams.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Someone asked poet E. E. Cummings what home was for him.

He responded poetically, talking about his lover.

Home was “the stars on the tip of your tongue, the flowers sprouting from your mouth, the roots entwined in the gaps between your fingers, the ocean echoing inside your ribcage.” What about you, Gemini? If you were asked to give a description of what makes you feel glad to be alive and helps give you the strength to be yourself, what would you say? Now would be a good time to identify and honor the influences that inspire you to create your inner sense of home.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): “Be sweet to me, world,” pleads Cancerian poet Stephen Dunn in one of his poems. In the coming weeks, I invite you to address the world in a similar way. And since I expect the world will be unusually receptive and responsive to your requests, I’ll encourage you to add even more entreaties. For example, you could say, “Be revelatory and educational with me, world,” or “Help me deepen my sense that life is meaningful, world,” or “Feed my soul with experiences that will make me smarter and wilder and kinder, world.” Can you think of other appeals and supplications you’d like to express to the world?

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Throughout his many rough travels in the deserts of the Middle East, the Leo diplomat and army officer known as Lawrence of Arabia (1888–1935) didn’t give up his love of reading. While riding on the backs of camels, he managed to study numerous tomes, including the works of ancient Greek writers Aeschylus and Aristophanes. I’d love to see you perform comparable balancing acts in the coming weeks, Leo. The astrological omens suggest you’ll be skilled at coordinating seemingly uncoordinatable projects and tasks — and that you’ll thrive by doing so. (PS: Your efforts may be more metaphorical and less literal than Lawrence’s.)

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Sculptor Stefan Saal testifies that one of his central questions as a creator of art is to know when a piece is done.

“When making a thing I need to decide when is it thoroughly made, when is it dare-we-say ’perfected.’” He has tried to become a master of knowing where and when to stop. I recommend this practice to you in the next two weeks, Virgo. You’ve been doing good work, and will continue to do good work, but it’s crucial that you don’t get overly fussy and fastidious as you refine and perhaps even finish your project.

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You’re entering the potentially most playful and frisky and whimsical phase of your astrological cycle. To honor and encourage a full invocation of gleeful fun, I offer you the following thoughts from Tumblr blogger Sparkledog. “I am so tired of being told that I am too old for the things I like. No cartoons.

No toys. No fantasy animals. No bright colors.

Are adults supposed to live monotonous, bleak lives ? I can be an adult and still love childish things. I can be intelligent and educated and informed and I can love stuffed animals and unicorns. Please stop making me feel bad for loving the things that make me happy.”

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Nature cannot be ordered about, except by obeying her,” wrote philosopher Francis Bacon (1561–1626). That paradoxical observation could prove to be highly useful for you in the coming weeks. Here are some other variants on the theme: Surrendering will lead to power. Expressing vulnerability will generate strength. A willingness to transform yourself will transform the world around you.

The more you’re willing to acknowledge that you have a lot to learn, the smarter you’ll be.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In his book The Lover’s Dictionary, David Levithan advises lovers and would-be lovers to tell each other their very best stories. “Not the day’s petty injustices,” he writes. “Not the glimmer of a seven-eighths-forgotten moment from your past. Not something that somebody said to somebody, who then told it to you.” No, to foster the vibrant health of a love relationship — or any close alliance for that matter — you should consistently exchange your deepest, richest tales. This is always true, of course, but it’s especially true for you right now.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): On Oct. 18, 1867, the United States government completed its purchase of Alaska from Russia. How much did this 586,000-acre kingdom cost? Two cents per acre, which in today’s money would be about 37 cents.

It was a tremendous bargain! I propose that we regard this transaction as a metaphor for what’s possible for you in 2021: the addition of a valuable resource at a reasonable price. (PS: American public opinion about the Alaskan purchase was mostly favorable back then, but a few influential newspapers described it as foolish. Don’t let naysayers like them dissuade you from your smart action.)

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “My business is circumference,” wrote poet Emily Dickinson in a letter to her mentor. What did she mean by that?

“Circumference” was an important word for her. It appeared in 17 of her poems. Critic Rochelle Cecil writes that for Dickinson, circumference referred to a sense of boundlessness radiating out from a center — a place where “one feels completely free, where one can express anything and everything.”

According to critic Donna M. Campbell, circumference was Dickinson’s metaphor for ecstasy. When she said, “My business is circumference,” she meant that her calling was to be eternally in quest of awe and sublimity. I propose that you make good use of Dickinson’s circumference in the coming weeks, Aquarius. It’s time to get your mind and heart and soul thoroughly expanded and elevated.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Should I quote the wisdom of people who have engaged in behavior I consider unethical or immoral? Should I draw inspiration from teachers who at some times in their lives treated others badly? For instance, Pisces-born Ted Geisel, better known as beloved author Dr. Seuss, cheated on his wife while she was sick, ultimately leading to her suicide. Should I therefore banish him from my memory and never mention the good he did in the world? Or should I forgive him of his sins and continue to appreciate him? I don’t have a fixed set of rules about how to decide questions like these. How about you?

The coming weeks will be a good time to redefine your relationship with complicated people.

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BY ROB BREZSNY

REAL ESTATE & RENTALS | ROOMMATES | JOBS | SERVICES ANNOUNCEMENTS | CLASSES & WORKSHOPS | MIND, BODY, SPIRIT MUSICIANS’ SERVICES | PETS | AUTOMOTIVE | XCHANGE | ADULT Want to advertise in Marketplace? 828-251-1333 advertise@mountainx.com • mountainx.com/classifieds If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Remember the Russian proverb: “Doveryai, no proveryai,” trust but verify. When answering classified ads, always err on the side of caution. Especially beware of any party asking you to give them financial or identification information. The Mountain Xpress cannot be responsible for ensuring that each advertising client is legitimate. Please report scams to advertise@mountainx.com EMPLOYMENT

SKILLED LABOR/ TRADES

GENERAL

Home Care.....where no one is beyond HOPE! web site: www.anewhopehomecare.com email: info@ anewhopehomecare.com phone: 828-255-4446

XCHANGE MOUNTAIN XPRESS IS LOOKING TO ADD A NEW MEMBER TO OUR SALES TEAM. Ideal candidates are personable, organized, motivated, and can present confidently, while working within a structure. Necessary skills include clear and professional communications (via phone, email, and in-person meetings), detailed record-keeping, and working well in a team environment. While no outside sales experience is required, experience dealing with varied and challenging situations is helpful. The position largely entails account development and lead generation (including cold-calling), account management, assisting clients with marketing and branding strategies, and working to meet or exceed sales goals.

If you are a high energy, positive, cooperative person looking to join an independent, community-minded organization, please send a resume and cover letter (no walk-ins, please) explaining why you are a good fit for Mountain Xpress to: advertise@mountainx.com JOB OPPORTUNITY FOR SECTION 3, LOW-INCOME PERSONS Minority Participating Commercial Contractor seeking to offer Section 3, Low- Income and Very-Low Income eligible Businesses, Vendors, Subcontractors, or individuals’ economic opportunities of job training, employment, and contracting work to promote local economic development and individual self-sufficiency. We will provide economical units to allow for minority participation as well as provide assistance for bonding and insurance for Section 3 businesses. Also, quick payment policies to help minority suppliers and contractors participate will be available.

We are committed to satisfy Section 3 obligations and our goal is to provide opportunities for Section 3 Businesses throughout this entire housing project. If you are a Section 3 Business or resident in the County area and seeking work, please contact us at 828-5483675, email to ad949@ bidsec3.com, or via fax at 828-548-3682 to become part of our HUD-assisted project and help promote quality housing and community development in this area. Plans are available at: https://parker.box.com/v/ Jasper-Section-3.

GREAT PAY AND BENEFITS! ConMet is growing its team of employees in Canton, NC. Ready to work now and wish to be considered for employment?

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PEST CONTROL TECHNICIAN NELON-COLE now hiring local individual for pest route in Asheville, NC. Experience preferred, training available. Benefits, vacation & holidays offered.

Apply at 2595 NC Hwy. 108 E., Columbus, NC 28722.

MEDICAL/ HEALTH CARE

WANTED BUYING OLD PAPER MONEY Asheville, WNC, ETN over 10 years. Fair, open, and responsive.

Buying currency, bonds, maps, documents, etc.

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CAREGIVERS

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We offer flexible scheduling, continuing education, CPR, PTO, 401K and Medical Benefits. A New Hope

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LEGAL NOTICES NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE NORTH CAROLINA, RUTHERFORD COUNTY Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Benjamin Adam McNeely and Autumn Elizabeth McNeely dated July 26, 2006 recorded on July 28, 2006 in Book 910, Page 379 of the Rutherford County Public Registry (“Deed of Trust”), conveying certain real property in Rutherford County to Jackie Young, Trustee, for the benefit of JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed

T H E NEW Y O R K T IM E S C R O S S W O R D P UZ Z L E 1

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1 Dreidels, e.g.

5 Little bit 10 Fancy-schmancy 14 Mother of Zeus 15 Home with a smoke flap

16 Up to it 17 Place to land that’s not on land 20 Nasdaq listings: Abbr.

21 “___ the only one?”

22 Amateur sports level 23 2002 musical that won eight Tonys 27 Quick pics 28 Gaelic language

that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on January 26, 2021 at 1:00 PM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Rutherford County, North Carolina, to wit: Being the same property as described in deed from James Kenneth Johnson and wife, Lucille J. Johnson, to Claude Lowery Real Estate, Inc. dated December 6, 1985, being described according to said deed as follows: Being Lot No. Four (4) of the Charles D. Owens property, River Hills Subdivision, II, located on Rollins Road, Forest City, N.C. said plat being duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds for Rutherford County, N.C., in Plat Book 11, Page 63, for which reference is made for a complete description.

Being the same and identical property conveyed by Diane D. Carraway to Tory Scott Wheeler by deed dated March 15, 2000 and of record in Deed Book 749, Page 866, Rutherford County Registry. Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record. Said property is commonly known as 500 Bob Rollins Road, Forest City, NC 28043; PIN: 1549-91-4020 A cash deposit (no personal checks) of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, payable to Bell Carrington Price & Gregg, PLLC, will be required

at the time of the sale.

Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing. Pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 45-21.30, if the highest bidder at the sale, resale, or any upset bidder fails to comply with its bid upon the tender of a deed for the real property, or after a bona fide attempt to tender such a deed, the clerk of superior court may, upon motion, enter an order authorizing a resale of the real property. The defaulting bidder at any sale or resale or any defaulting upset bidder is liable for the bid made, and in case a resale is had because of such default, shall remain liable to the extent that the final sale price is less than the bid plus all the costs of any resale.

Any deposit or compliance bond made by the defaulting bidder shall secure payment of the amount, if any, for which the defaulting bidder remains liable under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 45-21.30.

Third party purchasers must pay the excise tax and THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED. Said property to be offered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being offered for sale. This sale is made subject to any and all superior liens, including taxes and special assessments. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are the Heirs of

Benjamin Adam McNeely.

An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 45-21.29, in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination.

The notice shall also state that upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination [N.C. Gen. Stat. § 45-21.16(b)(2)].

Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination. If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged

ACROSS

40 Father of ___ (epithet for Toussaint L’Ouverture) 41 Rise up

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edited by Will Shortz

44 Canine breeders’ org.

No. 1216

59 Treasury notes … or what the two sides of 17-, 23-, 37- and 52-Across are joined with?

6 Fermented milk drinks

38 School founded

by Henry VI

48 New Orleans team

7 Elect (to)

51 Home of the Minoan civilization

63 Help with a heist

9 Disorganized pile

39 Hit TV show rebranded as “The Conners” in 2018 42 Iditarod pace setter

54 Make stuff up

64 Something you grin and bare?

50 Pfizer competitor 52 Felix of “The Odd Couple,” for one 55 How Russia ranks first among all countries 57 Shakespeare’s “Richard ___” 58 Suffix with lemon or lime

8 Brief moment 10 ), briefly

65 Beyond regulation, briefly

11 With 45-Down, Luke Skywalker’s mentor

66 Kind of wave

12 Dopey co-worker

67 Pick up

13 Martin Luther’s crime

68 Toy celebrated at Brickworld conventions

47 Plastic-like clogs 49 Offshore

puzzle by Ed Salners and Alex Eaton-Salners

DOWN

53 Give 10%

43 Develops a liking for

56 Parts of black widow spiders’ diets

44 Female friends, in Spain

60 One of the Three Stooges 61 Long, long time

45 See 11-Down

62 Need for making latkes

18 Dorm monitors, for short

46 Cowardly

19 Wildlife sanctuary

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS NY TIMES PUZZLE

24 Get through to

1 Windpipe

25 Show decorum

2 Toy company that made Etch A Sketch a success

26 Oscillates about a vertical axis

3 Fights through adversity

33 Cheese plate staple

4 Pouch

34 Next in line

5 Part of a philatelist’s collection

36 “Reading Rainbow” host Burton

30 Mythomaniac

C R I C N I T R N O S I S B I T P O B O E B E N D A T E D E G R I D L E T I U N D E T O O E W W I N N

K O M R A E T T A R T A H O V E N E W A L S R T B E R A C E S T A R O K A R

R O T H

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by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Cape Fear Trustee Services, LLC, Substitute Trustee ___ _________________________ ______, Attorney W. Harris, NCSB No. 48633 5550 77 Center Drive, Suite 100 Charlotte, NC 28217 PHONE: 980-201-3840 File No.: 20-46401

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MOUNTAINX.COM

JAN. 20-26, 2021

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