Mountain Xpress 03.25.20

OUR 26TH YEAR OF WEEKLY INDEPENDENT NEWS, ARTS & EVENTS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA VOL. 26 NO. 35 MARCH 25-31, 2020

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FEATURES 8 INTO THE BREACH Volunteers organize to sustain WNC through COVID-19

10 UNCHARTED TERRITORY Asheville City Council contemplates next year’s budget amid COVID-19 fears

CLOSED FOR NOW A closed sign is now a familiar sight around Asheville and WNC, with many local businesses and even Asheville City Hall closed to the public — though City Council meetings have moved to livestreams. In this issue, we chart the ongoing effects of COVID-19 concerns on our local community.

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12 SEEKING A SAFETY NET Jobs picture darkens in wake of coronavirus shutdowns

18 ARE WE READY? Hospitals brace for COVID-19 cases, clamp down on visitors

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20 DINING DISTRESS How to navigate eatery closures and support restaurant industry workers

14 COMMUNITY CALENDAR 15 ASHEVILLE ARCHIVES 16 BEST OF WNC CATEGORIES 18 WELLNESS 20 FOOD 23 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 24 ARTS UPDATE

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OPINION

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

Here’s hoping the new chair of the commission, Lynn Smith, is on the same page. It is easy for naysayers to come up with one example where displacement was either ameliorated or one block where there might be a few old buildings from back in the day, but the disruption and decline of so many lives and the poisoning of relationships that has yet to be addressed and reconciled — these are the glaring opportunities that Asheville citizens could decide to require of our municipality, so that we might set the right example for white-dominated communities through the area, the state and the nation.

— Arjuna da Silva

Black Mountain Editor’s note: A longer version of this letter will appear at mountainx.com.

CARTOON BY RAN D Y M O LT O N

Asheville should address redlining’s tragedies I want to appreciate Thomas Calder’s exposé of redlining in Asheville in the March 4 issue [“Uprooted: Urban Renewal in Asheville,” Xpress]. He helps trace the tragic story that Asheville was hardly immune to, placing the redlined map of “our city” directly in our faces. Calder and others (see Ta-Nehisi Coates’ We Were Eight Years in Power) trace the awful policies as far back as the “concessions” FDR had to make to pull off the New Deal in the mid-1930s, but other records show that this redlining business was going on right here well before that. ...

In Asheville, we may be lucky that no Robert Moses ever thought it was worth “developing” the city the way they messed up other places, but in 1920, our own native son, Thomas Wolfe, as a graduate student in the Harvard 47 Workshop’s playwriting program, told the world about the scheming going on in Asheville in his play, Welcome to Our City, a 3 1/2-hour exposé on the nefarious workings “behind the scenes” in good old A’ville way back then. ...

The play depicts how unscrupulous politicians, bankers and real estate agents, planning to rid the center of the city of what they deemed “undesirable elements,” wreaked havoc on the lives of African American families by wheeling, dealing and (at least in the play) burning down the home of a black medical doctor

whom they were intent on discouraging from living among them. ...

Calder mentions the recent UNCA student-researched exhibit (now at Pack Library) that includes Asheville properties redlined and cleared of their African American residents on or around 1979.

Of the properties they were researching, four are vacant lots today. ...

Now is the time for Asheville to show our mettle. Those empty lots are valuable and could become the hub of one or more projects granted and dedicated to the construction of meaningful housing or other community infrastructure in honest and open solidarity with the moral responsibility all who are racially privileged in this country shoulder. We cannot in good faith be praised for tourism, gentrification or other tributes to the mostly white recipients of American hospitality and opportunity without showing up in other ways to expunge, however minimally it is possible for a small city to do so, the mistakes — the tragedies — that our deliberate or ignorant behavior as a society keeps compounding year after year after year.

Let’s applaud and assist the proposal

by Asheville’s African American Heritage Commission’s last chair, Sasha Mitchell, of a moratorium on future development projects involving properties acquired through this kind of “urban renewal,” until at least a comprehensive cost analysis is conducted. Government policies targeting black populations caused losses of wealth, capital and family coherence, a pervasive downwardly “mobile” trajectory so many still suffer from.

Why do adults forget lessons in sharing?

Editor’s note: This is the one of several letters we received about 12 Baskets Cafe from students at Francine Delany New School for Children before schools shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Also, although 12 Baskets’ community space is closed for now, the organization is distributing takeout meals at its Haywood Road site.

As a child, I’m often reminded how important it is to share. We are told to share our toys, share our candy, even our lunches. Our family says when we share, it’s a form of love. As we get older, the message changes. Adults tell us that sharing with adults we don’t know is a bad thing. We should stay away from strangers and keep our distance. We are taught to make assumptions that people who are homeless are needy or dangerous.

Thankfully, there is 12 Baskets, a place that knows what it means to share with one’s community. At 12 Baskets, people from all walks of life come to share food and enjoy each other’s company. When I visit, I feel loved, cared for and like I have another family.

At 12 Baskets, my class and I met people that we wouldn’t normally meet.

We met people who are judged for experiences that mostly happen when they experience bad days, and all of us have our bad days.

Not too long ago, I met a person at 12 Baskets who is suffering from depression. He told me he lost his mother, just like I did. I got to connect with him in ways I haven’t done in years, sharing our struggles, how we feel and our differences. That benefited both of us. We shared a meal, shared conversation and shared our life stories. Because of this, we both felt seen. We shared our human dignity.

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OPINION

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

Help Xpress survive Unprecedented times pose newsroom challenges Each of us is currently being challenged to act heroically. Xpress’ challenge is to show how those actions are creating and maintaining our community as we look together toward an unknown future.

We’re working hard to operate efficiently and provide you with the most up-to-date and useful information. But we are facing unprecedented challenges in our newsroom.

A lot of what abruptly closed or stopped in recent days — events, businesses, fitness centers, restaurants — are our advertisers. In the face of these cessations, many organizations have canceled their ads, which means that about half the revenue that supports Xpress’ community-focused reporting has vanished in a matter of days.

Xpress, too, must reduce costs to survive as a public service over the next

few weeks or months, however long this lasts. On March 20, we made the tough decision to say goodbye, for now, to seven talented members of our team: Heather Brown, Bryant Cooper, Norn Cutson, Alli Marshall, Brooke Randle, Deborah Robertson and Heather Taylor. We hope this difficult step will bolster our ability to weather this storm.

However, we do not plan to cease publishing the weekly newspaper.

We’ve provided local community news for 25 years. Now isn’t the time to stop.

So we are asking you for your help: If you’re able to chip in — whether $5 or $10 or $25 a month; $10 or $50 or $100 as a one-time give — your contribution will help keep Xpress’ journalism strong at a time when having free, accessible and thorough coverage is especially vital to the health and wellbeing of our community.

If you’ve already joined or made a one-time contribution, consider making another one-time contribution or upping your monthly donation to the next tier. Share this message with your friends and family. Support the businesses that are advertising in Xpress and let them know you saw their advertisement in the paper.

Last week, we introduced this appeal via email, and readers have stepped up in a big way, boosting our ability to continue providing our vital, free service to the public. Thank you for your support.

Please keep it coming, and we’ll keep digging deep to bring you information, news, inspiration and diversion in the days ahead.

— Jeff Fobes Publisher and founder Mountain Xpress X

Sign up at SupportMountainX.com I have heard criticism of 12 Baskets.

People make false assumptions and claim that 12 Baskets increases theft, drug use and homelessness. However, this is not true. 12 Baskets is an inviting place where people can connect with one another, feel seen and get a warm meal in their belly.

It’s a place where sharing continues and adults practice what they preach.

— Saffron

Student, Francine Delany New School for Children Asheville

A speech about racial equity that resonated CA RTO O N BY IRE N E O L DS

The

Sustainability April 1, 8, 15 and 22

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Series

Charlayne Hunter-Gault, of public broadcasting fame, spoke on Jan. 20 at the university in Asheville. Her life has included experience of the struggle for racial equity and justice in both this country and South Africa. Her message, in large degree, was that Americans need to get and stay engaged for mutual benefit in what goes on in other countries, notably in Africa as a whole and in South Africa.

I find that an important message, for it is true that Americans generally are too little aware of issues in other countries, while people there are perhaps too

inclined to look to this dominant culture for lessons lived and learned here, then either to admire and imitate or be aghast at what we do.

I remember in Cape Town in the early ’60s, taking radio comfort (we had no TV and, of course, no internet) from news of events and particularly of victories here. I remember singing “We Shall Overcome” and “This Land Is Our Land” with us and our own country in mind. Americans later joined in the international effort to support the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, one of the 20th century’s monster formulations, the embodiment fully in government and culture of racial hatred and discrimination.

And of course, Americans had fought one of those extreme versions in World War II. Yet my experience is that we here become so preoccupied with our own version that still threatens to devour us today that we look elsewhere too little to understand and learn from the experience of others.

My concern is that, even today, one of those monster variants could overtake us and become America’s reality.

It could happen amid trends toward mutual isolation within our separate cultures and nations, together with the rise afresh of violence in support of white supremacy. ...

Comparisons have been made to Germany of the ’20s and ’30s: Could progressive Germans then have seen the signs of what was to come at a time when they could still ask questions and raise policy issues without yet drawing the full wrath of the state onto their heads? Do we need to be similarly alert? ...

We must not lose sight of our own such battle, but surely we can only gain from achieving mutual awareness of the current struggles in both countries, and others, in small ways and large, to move to a higher plane in human living: a plane where differences only highlight and illuminate our essential similarities and bring out our underlying unity, instead of leading to conflict and destruction of one another.

Despotism and forces of anti-democracy have arisen in this time throughout the world. That can be discouraging. But it is also an opportunity to stand together to promote rising above such discord and animosity to deal effectively in new and inventive ways with such issues as wealth inequality and the effects of changes in climate, as well as the residual elements of our divisive histories. That takes mutual awareness. We desperately need to learn from and listen to each other without seeking to impose our own views, not only within our own commu-

C A R T O O N B Y B R E NT B R O W N nities but in a spirit of outreach between our countries.

— Ann Karson Candler Editor’s note: A longer version of this letter will appear at mountainx.com.

Karson, who grew up in South Africa, notes that she has been an American citizen since 1978 and can be contacted at akarson57@gmail.com.

Myths and mentalities Editor’s note: This is the one of several letters we received about 12 Baskets Cafe from students at Francine Delany New School for Children before schools shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Also, though 12 Baskets’ community space is closed, the organization is distributing takeout meals at its Haywood Road site.

As an eighth grade class who eats, cleans and serves at 12 Baskets monthly, we want to share the insight we’ve gained. The message we hope to relay is the myth of scarcity and how a mentality of abundance can help reframe problems and solve them.

The name 12 Baskets is inspired by the Bible story of thousands of people eating off of a few loaves of bread and fish, which, after being blessed by Jesus, miraculously satisfies the masses. Most people interpret the story as a miracle of God,

but instead the founder of 12 Baskets, Shannon Spencer, views the story more about a community sharing. She wonders if people were perhaps inspired to take food out of their own pockets and contribute to the community’s abundance.

This story demonstrates the possibility of abundance when people unite in that purpose. She believes that through having a mentality of abundance, everyone can have enough. Because the truth is, there is enough food.

More food than ever that’s in perfect condition is being disposed of in landfills. In fact, 84% of the United States can eat a 2,000-calorie diet off the food being thrown away. 12 Baskets “rescues” the food from restaurants and distributes it, in their free-of-charge, but high-inspirit, cafe. The myth of scarcity can push people to become apprehensive toward others and to hoard material wealth, but we’ve learned at 12 Baskets that by adopting a mentality of abundance, we can find ways to more evenly and equally distribute wealth and resources, especially food.

We know that problems like hunger seem impossible to solve, but if you go about your day with openness to give, even when it may be hard, our problems can be solved, one small gesture at a time.

— London, Adaiah and Paiden Students, Francine Delany New School for Children Asheville

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Economic life in Western North Carolina has undeniably slowed as residents follow social distancing guidelines to fight the spread of COVID-19.

Concerts, restaurants, shops, breweries, gyms, salons and some retail stores have all shut down or adapted to reduce person-to-person contact, and as a consequence, decrease transmission of the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

But outside those closed doors, nature brings reassuring signs: fragrant peach blossoms, purple wildflower explosions, wild onion ready for the picking. Similarly, myriad nonprofit and community groups are springing into action to help locals persevere through the crisis. As existing organizations adjust their work to focus on COVID-19 needs and new efforts begin to knit neighbors together, community resilience is blooming throughout WNC. Importantly, the most helpful action those at high risk of complications from the virus can take — people with preexisting health conditions such as heart disease or a compromised immune system, pregnant women, those who live in a nursing home or long-term care facility, the severely obese and those aged 65 and over — is to stay at home. By avoiding illness, residents at the greatest risk for the most severe consequences of the disease can help

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ensure that health workers will have the capacity to deal with the likely surge of serious COVID-19 cases.

BUSINESS AS UNUSUAL Even before the coronavirus hit WNC, MANNA FoodBank saw substantial needs throughout the community, notes spokesperson Kara Irani. But due to the “cascading economic implications” of job losses caused by COVID-19, she says, even more families are finding themselves with food insecurity.

Simultaneously, Irani points out, the specific nature of the current crisis is hindering MANNA’s ability to respond. Higher-than-normal grocery demand and stockpiling by residents has sharply cut the flow of food donations, which normally make up 80% of the nonprofit’s inventory. And because at least half of its existing volunteer base is 65 or older, fewer people are able to show up for shifts to fill family food boxes and kids packs.

In response, Irani says MANNA is specifically recruiting younger volunteers and taking extensive precautions to keep those workers healthy. “Every volunteer who enters is required to wash their hands immediately, keep 6 feet of distance between themselves and others and wear gloves, hairnets and other safe food-handling needs,” she says. “We will begin checking everyone who enters the building for a temperature, and anyone who presents with a temperature will be required to exit the building immediately.”

Among MANNA’s approaches to reaching new volunteers is the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County’s Hands On online platform. United Way spokesperson Elisabeth Bocklet says 133 people had signed up for COVID-19 volunteering updates as of March 18. She adds that her organization has been working with Buncombe County government through its emergency operations center to track community resources and needs as they evolve through the crisis.

“One of the biggest needs right now is for everyone to have a centralized and clear understanding of the social

service landscape, who is doing what and where are the gaps,” Bocklet says. “So our top priority is to build out that picture.”

NEIGHBORS HELPING NEIGHBORS Beyond these large-scale nonprofits, smaller groups of citizens are spontaneously organizing less centralized responses. Zev Friedman, creative director for Co-operate WNC, says his mutual aid network aims to link people together to meet needs that they cannot meet alone, such as child care and bulk seed orders for community food production.

Get involved Below is an incomplete list of area organizations currently seeking help in response to COVID-19.

As a reminder, those who feel sick or fall into high-risk groups (see list at left) should stay at home.

American Red Cross redcrossblood.org 800-733-2767 Bounty and Soul bountyandsoul.org 828-419-0533 Co-operate WNC co-operatewnc.org zev@co-operatewnc.org Homeward Bound of WNC homewardboundwnc.org 828-258-1695 Interfaith Assistance Ministry iamhendersoncounty.org 828-697-7029 MANNA FoodBank mannafoodbank.org 828-299-3663 United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County unitedwayabc.org 828-255-0696 YMCA of WNC ymcawnc.org 828-251-5910 YWCA of Asheville ywcaofasheville.org 828-254-7206

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BOX LUNCH: Volunteers with MANNA FoodBank pack black beans for distribution in response to food insecurity in WNC, which has increased due to the economic impacts of COVID-19. Photo courtesy of MANNA FoodBank Although the network was initially organized in response to the threat of climate change, Friedman says many of Co-operate WNC’s strategies are equally applicable to COVID-19. Locally controlled food and energy production, communitybased governance and cooperative health care, he suggests, are resilient to all forms of disaster; the virus is merely casting the need for such systems into sharper relief.

“The climate emergency, which is truly an emergency, is operating at just a slightly longer time scale than humans intuitively make decisions. So many of us are able to insulate ourselves psychologically from the dramatic changes and losses that are occurring, and in a way continue to pretend it’s not happening,” Friedman says.

“COVID-19 cuts right through that facade and shatters our complacency — no one is pretending anymore that we are in the territory of business as usual.”

Efforts are also taking shape through social media. Asheville Survival Program, a Facebook group established on March 13, has gained over 1,400 members as of press time to share resources such as herbal approaches to fighting respiratory infections. And many on Nextdoor, such as Oakley resident (and occasional Xpress freelancer) Ali Mangkang, are taking advantage of that platform’s geographically oriented networks to organize their immediate communities amid a deluge of outside communication.

“I feel like I’ve seen an email or social media post from every business in Asheville in the past week!

It’s a lot to process, especially when information is being shared from the federal level on down to the community level,” Mangkang says. “My personal goal is just to help coordinate a virtual exchange of services and information in my own neighborhood.” X

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N EWS

by Brooke Randle

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UNCHARTED TERRITORY Asheville City Council, city staff and regional and national experts met March 13 for Council’s annual retreat. As in prior years, the meeting aimed to lay out goals, priorities and spending and revenue strategies for Asheville’s government as plans get underway for the city’s fiscal year 2020-21 budget.

But while many familiar challenges faced city officials as they considered the next budget cycle — how to generate new revenue and where Asheville can trim its spending, for example — an unfamiliar cloud hung above the proceedings. Council members and guest speakers alike voiced concern over how the worsening COVID-19 pandemic will impact the local economy and their ability to plan for the city’s future.

“Anybody that follows the economy or follows the news will tell you that there’s a big elephant in the room that we can’t measure, and we’re all thinking about it, and it’s going

CIRCLE UP: City Manager Debra Campbell, at podium, leads Asheville City Council members and city staff in a discussion of Asheville’s budget for the next fiscal year. Photo by Brooke Randle to affect your planning,” Tom Tveidt, president of Asheville-based consulting firm SYNEVA Economics, told Council members before presenting the city’s latest economic and demographic information. “That being said, I think there

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Asheville City Council contemplates next year’s budget amid COVID-19 fears

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will be a pre-coronavirus economy and a post-coronavirus economy.”

FALLING SHORT Tony McDowell, the city’s assistant finance director, explained during his presentation that despite continued growth in Asheville’s property tax revenue, partly driven by the sale of nonprofit Mission Health to for-profit HCA Healthcare, the city’s expenses are still on track to outpace its revenues starting in fiscal year 2021-22, with a projected deficit of $240,000.

Asheville’s general fund is projected to remain in the black for fiscal year 2020-21. However, McDowell said an additional $6.8 million in city revenue projected for next year will go to operating cost increases in areas such as transit, maintenance and pay raises for city employees. Those costs do not include new enhancements to transit or capital improvements.

“There really is a need for additional revenue if we’re going to fund any new capital or operating expenses in next year’s budget,” McDowell explained. He also noted a substantial drop in county sales tax growth estimates — from 7.9% last fiscal year down to 0.9% in the current year — but could not provide a cause for the steep decline.

“There is really not a good explanation for it. If you look at the state data, statewide sales taxes through November are up about 6%, so the state as a whole is still seeing really great growth,” McDowell said. “The longer the trend goes on, the more we think it’s something happening out in the economy.”

Current estimates for the city’s revenue, McDowell said, may also change in the near future as the full impact of the disease caused by the new coronavirus is understood by city staff.

“You all will be pretty close to adopting next year’s budget before we have good sales tax information to see how it’s been impacted,” he told Council members. “We’re monitoring that and we may have to come in and potentially lower revenues, especially sales taxes. This projection was done a few days ago, before we really realized the potential magnitude of what we’re looking at.”

BEST-LAID PLAN? McDowell also noted that a projected $500,000 budget shortfall for transit in the current fiscal year had been reduced to about $300,000 due to recent influxes of grant money. While that may sound like good news for transit advocates, Jessica Morris, the city’s assistant director of transportation, explained during her presentation that the shortfall would still put the city’s projected budget for transit spending behind that required for the service additions recommended in the 2018 Transit Master Plan.

Including the expense of continuing enhancements from the partial implementation of the TMP’s first year and increased costs for paratransit and fuel, the city is projected to spend $12.2 million on transit next year, a $2.1 million increase from last year’s budget. To finish implementing year one and begin year two of the plan — which would extend service hours, upgrade operating software and add and expand routes — would cost Asheville an additional $2.4 million.

After noting that Asheville lacked dedicated funding for the TMP enhancements beyond the city’s general fund, City Manager Debra Campbell asked Council members to consider directing staff to reevaluate the Transit Master Plan’s schedule and seek new funding sources.

“It’s not a recommendation, but we just want you to think about whether we need to go back and look at the Transit Master Plan and better link it to a funding strategy,” Campbell said.

“We are so dedicated to enhancing and trying to deliver what the Transit

Master Plan outlines, but we cannot do it being fiscally constrained as we are.”

Mayor Esther Manheimer, Vice Mayor Gwen Wisler and Council member Vijay Kapoor said they supported the idea of “resequencing,” or slowing the deadlines within the plan’s timeline, to align with what they said were more realistic goals.

“I remember the day that I voted for the master plan, knowing how aggressive it was, and one of the reasons that I felt OK with voting for it and the timing was that the Mission money was estimated at substantially higher than it actually came in,” Wisler said. According to a presentation

by Asheville Chief Financial Officer Barbara Whitehorn last March, initial projections put the city’s new property tax revenue from Mission Health at $5 million for fiscal year 2019-20 and $8 million in following years; those numbers were subsequently revised downward to $2.5 million and $5 million, respectively.

“Now, that money’s just not there,” Wisler continued. “It’s never going to be there, so I think we really do have to go back and relook at the timing under the master plan, just because I don’t know how we do it based on the current state of our property taxes.”

“If we’re going to continue to be held to our own timeline, which we can’t meet financially and capacity-wise, that will be a frustrating experience and will continue to be a frustrating experience for us and for transit riders and transit advocates,” added Manheimer.

In contrast, Council members Julie Mayfield, Keith Young, Brian Haynes and Sheinika Smith all voiced support for maintaining the plan in its current structure. That majority bloc asked Campbell and her staff to continue looking into additional sources of funding for the city’s transit enhancements, such as the nonadvertising portion of occupancy tax revenue administered by the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, before reevaluating the 10-year plan.

NOT EASY BEING GREEN Chief Sustainability Officer Amber Weaver told Council members that reaching the city’s goal of powering operations through 100% renewable energy by 2030 would be more costly than simply equipping municipal buildings with energy-saving technology. She added that many of the city’s public buildings would require upgrades and maintenance work, such as roof replacements or repairs, before they could support solar panels.

Combining the city’s existing capital

needs with some renewable energy initiatives, she said, would cost approximately $74.4 million.

Kapoor and Manheimer said they were interested in exploring whether Asheville could pay for the maintenance and improvements through bonds, which voters could approve through a citywide referendum as soon as this fall. “I would love to be able to see a win-win and address some of those [issues], bring down our energy costs and fund it in a responsible way,” Kapoor said.

Meanwhile, Mayfield noted that the city’s budget lacked funding for an urban forester and an urban forest master plan. Campbell argued that substantial urban forest protection would result from a tree preservation ordinance currently being crafted by the city’s Development Services Department.

“We believe that, with the hopeful adoption of the regulations around tree preservation and the tree ordinance, that is a huge step in terms of preservation, because essentially what that allows this community to do is to regulate trees on private property,” Campbell said. She recommended allowing the ordinance to be in place for at least a year to assess its effectiveness before considering funding an urban forester.

COMPENSATION STATION Council members also heard a proposal from city staff to raise pay for all city employees to a minimum of $15 per hour. A similar initiative stalled last year, despite support from Council members, over Campbell’s concerns about wage compression, or creating smaller differences in pay among employees with different skills or experience.

To address this issue, Human Resources Department Manager Larisa Lowman explained, Asheville could raise all employees to a baseline salary of $31,200 while approving additional raises based on years of employment. She estimated that boosting the city’s 92 employees who do not currently make $15 per hour to the baseline salary would cost $409,341, while compression adjustments for an additional 29 city employees would cost $164,965, bringing the total expense to $574,306.

Council members unanimously supported the salary increases for the upcoming budget and directed city staff to continue evaluating how the raises would impact employee benefits such as parental leave and retirement plans. X

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N EWS

by Mark Barrett

markbarrett@charter.net

SEEKING A SAFETY NET The job market in Buncombe County is showing signs of deterioration this week as employers let workers go or pull back on hiring because of the economic disruption caused

by COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. The number of

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jobs open in the county listed through NCWorks, the state agency that helps job seekers, dropped by 5% March 17-18 alone.

Gov. Roy Cooper issued a March 17 executive order making it easier for people statewide who have lost their jobs to get unemployment benefits, but many workers will find the pot of gold at the end of that rainbow to be comparatively skimpy.

The maximum weekly benefit jobless workers in North Carolina can get is $350, and the average amount paid is $264 a week, which ranks 41st among the states, according to data compiled by the N.C. General Assembly’s Fiscal Research Division. On average, those eligible for benefits get unemployment checks for 8.6 weeks, which ranks North Carolina 49th, the researchers say. The period of time jobless people in the state can get benefits is also among the shortest in the country.

Buncombe County has frequently had the lowest unemployment rate in the state in recent years. The county figure stood at 2.5% in December, the most recent month for which county-level figures are available. That represented a decline from the 2.9% rate recorded in December 2018.

The Asheville NC Works office has received numerous contacts from job seekers, and the agency’s website “is just overwhelmed with people” looking for work, says office head Rodney Embler. Even in the face of a rapidly slowing economy, some listings for new jobs are coming in, and searching for work is far from a futile exercise, he says. Recent listings include job openings at a local senior care facility, landscaping companies and temp agencies.

Jobs picture darkens in wake of coronavirus shutdowns

TOUGH TIMES: As state and locally mandated business closures ripple throughout Western North Carolina, thousands of local residents are facing unemployment and a very uncertain future. Changes in unemployment rules may help ease the process of applying for and receiving benefits. Photo from Getty Images LOOSENING THE RULES Cooper’s order: • Removes the one-week waiting period to apply for unemployment compensation. The waiting period had previously meant that jobless people got no compensation for the first week they were out of work.

• Removes the requirement that people must be looking for work in order to receive benefits. Job seekers previously had to contact three employers a week as part of their job search.

• Says employers will not be held responsible for benefits paid out because of jobless claims directly related to COVID-19. The rates businesses pay

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for unemployment insurance ordinarily increase when their workers file jobless claims.

• Eases other unemployment claims rules.

Cooper announced the changes the same day he ordered limits on the operations of restaurants and bars. “These changes are designed to lessen the hit on our economy and workers’ wallets,” he said. “We know people want to work and that businesses want to stay open. The reality is that many can’t.”

The quickest and most efficient way to file for unemployment benefits is to go online at des.nc.gov, the state Division of Employment Security says. Those without access to a computer may file by calling 888-737-0259.

Many offices of NCWorks have either closed or reduced the hours they are open to the public. Information about local offices, including new operating hours, is available at NCWorks.gov. The Asheville office remains open, but the state Department of Commerce asks that people apply for benefits via computer or phone instead of visiting in person.

The Asheville office was set to be open through March 20 but closed to the public after that. Embler says people will still be able to call the office at 828-251-6200 or visit its web-

site, ncworksasheville.com, in addition to the statewide site.

Dropping the requirement that people seeking jobless benefits must look for new work addresses two issues unemployed people had faced before Cooper’s order, says Larry Parker, a spokesman for the state Division of Employment Security. Many people out of work hope their employer will call them back to work quickly, possibly making a new job search unnecessary, and few employers are hiring nowadays anyway, he said.

Parker said his agency has recorded a “huge” spike in the number of people filing unemployment claims statewide.

There were about 2,500 claims filed during the week that ended March 6, then roughly 3,500 the week that ended March 13. But there were 18,000 claims related to COVID-19 in just two days, March 17 and 18, he said on March 19.

NCWorks’ website showed 5,532 job listings for Buncombe County as of March 18, down from 5,828 from the day before. A few of those listings were first posted within the past few days, while others are older, making it difficult to say how many employers are actively seeking to fill positions given the recent dramatic changes in the overall economic picture.

“Employers are a little overwhelmed,” and removing a job listing might not be their first priority in these troubled times, Embler says.

PAYMENTS ARE NO BONANZA North Carolina’s unemployment benefits have been less generous since the General Assembly and thenGov. Pat McCrory slashed them in 2013, saying the steps were necessary because the trust fund that pays out benefits was dramatically in the red.

The state now has $3.9 billion in reserve to pay claims, which legislative

researchers say ranks it 13th on one measure of solvency.

Republican backers of the changes say they put North Carolina in a much better position to weather increased demands for benefits caused by COVID-19, and there are indications that legislative leaders will support more generous payments this year. “At $3.8 billion, North Carolina has one of the largest unemployment reserves in the country,” Senate leader Phil Berger said in a statement March 17.

“Reforms put in place years ago helped build that large balance to allow the state to adjust its benefits program in response to an economic downturn.

“What adjustments to the state program might be necessary will become clearer once we have more finality on what the federal program will look like. But we have a multibillion surplus for times like this,” Berger said.

Cooper said he expects the federal government will take action to help states pay unemployment claims.

Critics say the legislature went too far in 2013 and should make adjustments to give the unemployed more money. “The changes enacted in North Carolina amounted to the most severe cuts ever enacted by any state during the 80-plus-year history of American unemployment insurance,” MaryBe McMillan, president of the North Carolina State AFL-CIO, and Rick Glazier, executive director of the progressive think tank and advocacy group North Carolina Justice Center, wrote March 18.

“At the time (of the cuts), legislators claimed that when the trust fund was solvent, these draconian cuts would be revisited. That time has clearly arrived,” McMillan and Glazier wrote.

The two say that North Carolina’s jobless payments only replace an average of 32 cents of every $1 in lost income for unemployed workers and that economists say the ratio should be 50% or higher. X

MOUNTAINX.COM

MARCH 25 - 31, 2020

13

COMMUNITY CALENDAR MARCH 25 - APRIL 2, 2020

CALENDAR GUIDELINES 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.

CLASSES, MEETINGS & EVENTS EMPYREAN ARTS CLASSES (PD.) Self Care weekly on Mondays 7:30pm and Sundays 2:15pm.

Aerial Flexibility weekly on Wednesdays 6:15pm, Fridays 1pm, and Saturdays 1pm. Aerial Kids weekly on Wednesdays 5pm. Intro to Pole Fitness weekly on Mondays 6:15pm, Tuesdays 7:15pm, and Saturdays 11:30am.

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THOMAS SCHOOL OF REAL ESTATE (PD.) Pre & Postlicensing Courses Held at Keller Williams Elite 79 Turtle Creek Rd. Asheville NC www.

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KIDS EMPOWERING THE LEADER IN EACH YOUNG MAN (PD.) Journeymen is supporting adolescent boys on their paths to becoming men

of integrity. Our cost-free program is now enrolling young men 12-17. Mentees (“J-men”) participate in bi-weekly mentoring groups and a semi-annual Rites of Passage Adventure Weekend, where they develop compassion, self-awareness, accountability, resilience and authenticity. Learn more: journeymenasheville. org Contact: journeymenasheville@ gmail.com (828) 771-6344.

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AVL HABITAT RESTORE Asheville Habitat ReStores are currently closed and unable to accept donations. Please keep us in mind during spring cleaning.

Box up your unwanted items to donate when we reopen. Thanks!

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MARCH 25 - 31, 2020

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Following local and state declarations of emergency last week, most planned events have been canceled or postponed. While this week’s calendar reflects the latest information available to Xpress at press time we encourage readers to check with event organizers to determine the status of local gatherings.

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TUTOR ADULTS/ YOUTH IN NEED WITH THE LITERACY COUNCIL (PD.) 43% of adults with low literacy live in poverty.

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ASHEVILLE ARCHIVES

by Thomas Calder | tcalder@mountainx.com

‘Skirts at the polls!’

The city’s mixed response to the women’s suffrage movement, 1894

FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT: “The woman’s rights movement that has just taken on tangible shape in Asheville has set the people to talking,” the Asheville Daily Citizen reported on Nov. 22, 1894. Photo courtesy of the State Archives of North Carolina In last week’s Asheville Archives, we looked at the 1894 formation of the state’s first women’s suffrage committee (later named the North Carolina Equal Suffrage Association).

The group was led by Asheville resident and committee President Helen Morris Lewis. This week’s piece examines the community’s mixed response to the committee’s creation.

On both a national and local level, race and racism influenced perceptions of the women’s suffrage movement, which launched in 1848. Many Southern whites, both male and female, opposed the movement for fear that it would further empower African Americans. In Asheville, this resentment presented itself in a Nov. 21, 1894, letter to the editor, written the day after the local women’s suffrage committee was formed. The Hendersonville resident, who signed the letter with her initials M.B.R. declared, “as long as the negro women must be included in our franchise it cannot be desirable for the South.”

In addition to racism, sexism factored largely into the opposition. On Nov. 22, the Asheville Daily Citizen ran excerpts written by the Rev. Millard A. Jenkins. (According to the article,

the piece was originally published in an unnamed paper produced by the religious leader.) In it, the preacher bemoaned the state of North Carolina at the time, writing: “There have been isms and schisms, and this and that; and now comes woman’s rights, waving her banners and claiming her liberties and freedom. And some men are stupid enough to receive the old toothless crone, as though she were a fair maiden.”

Jenkins went on to assert that God made women to serve men. In granting women the right to vote, the preacher believed, man “would reverse the order of business adopted by the God of heaven.” Women, Jenkins continued, belonged in the home. Had women been more diligent in their domestic duties, he declared, they “would have sealed eternally the barroom’s doom.”

In a joint response published in the Asheville Daily Citizen on Nov. 26, 1894, Lewis and her colleague Floride Cunningham denounced Jenkins’ column. “It is narrow, prejudiced and personal, and the expressed views are shallow and effete,” they wrote. “Such men as the writer have no real influ-

ence in an age like this, and are relegated to oblivion.”

Other residents took issue with Jenkins’ letter as well, though some for reasons unrelated to the suffrage movement. “Why should the title ‘toothless crone’ be intended to typify all that is vicious and contemptible?” one letter writer protested in the Nov. 28, 1894, issue of the Asheville Daily Citizen. “What a melancholy reflection that a reverend gentleman can be so blinded by the seductiveness of ‘fair maidens’ that … he can find nothing to eulogize in ‘toothless crones,’ though they often possess the virtues of the elect.” The letter writer signed the piece “A Toothless Crone.”

Meanwhile, letter writer “A Lord of Creation,” offered praise for the local committee in a Nov. 23, 1894, letter to the editor. Countering Jenkins’ bleak, parochial outlook, the anonymous writer proclaimed: “All hail to this new movement known as woman’s suffrage! Sound the gong from Snowbird creek to the eastern jumping off place, and let the world know that the women of North Carolina are not asleep.

Let the tidings sweep like a monstrous wave from sandhill to mountain top, and let woman, the mistress of all she surveys know that her days of thralldom are not many now. Happy is it that this great movement should have its inception in our beautiful city, truly the heart of the world. ... Get up a torchlight procession and begin the campaign, and let the battlecry be ‘Skirts at the polls!’ To arms! To arms! And sweep aside those puny ones who would essay to stem the mighty tide!”

Despite Lewis’ efforts, the 19th Amendment, which grants women the right to vote, was not ratified until Aug. 18, 1920. For a majority of African American women, however, the same tactics used to deny African American men the right to vote were implemented to deny them their right as well — including poll taxes, literacy tests and other discriminatory practices. (See “Asheville Archives: ‘White Supremacy made permanent,’ 1900,” Feb. 6, 2018, Xpress.) It took another 45 years before the Voting Rights Act was signed into law on Aug. 6, 1965, seeking to overcome the legal barriers that previously prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote.

Editor’s note: Peculiarities of spelling and punctuation are preserved from the original documents. X

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BEST OF WNC M O UNTA IN X P R E S S P R E S E NTS

2020 BALLOT CATEGORIES

Get ready to vote your knowledge and your passion!

This year’s Best of WNC reader ballot is amazing!

We’ve trimmed and refined last year’s categories, cutting some questions and adding a few others. The goal has been a poll that lets voters honor the area’s unique creativity and excellence. The ballot is designed

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Literature

Music Events & Venues

Theater

• • • •

• Local Author • Local Poet

Place To Hear Live Music Outdoor Music Venue Listening Room Local Music Festival

Bands by Genre • • • • • • • • • • • •

All-Round Favorite Band Acoustic/Folk Americana/Country Blues Busker/Street Group Funk Hip-Hop Artist/Group Jazz Old-Time/Bluegrass R&B/Soul Rock World Music

Musicians

• Singer-Songwriter • Vocalist • Lyricist

Arts & Crafts

• Art/Crafts Fair or Event • Studio Stroll/Driving Tour • Craft School or Place to Learn a Craft • Craft-Oriented Gallery • Local Art Gallery • Nonprofit That Serves the Arts • Fiber Artist • Jewelry Artist/Designer • Metal Artist or Metalworker • Mural Artist • Painter/Illustrator • Photographer • Potter/Ceramic Artist • Woodworker • Glass Artist

Entertainment

• Comedy Troupe or Series • Local Comedy Show/ Night/Event • Trivia Night Emcee • Open-Mic Night Venue • DJ (Non-Radio) • Comedian

Film

• Movie Theater • Local Filmmaker

16

MARCH 25 - 31, 2020

to capture the insights of thousands of people who know and care about Western North Carolina.

The Best of WNC ballot is easy to navigate. It features an autocomplete function to help you vote more quickly • • • • •

Kid-Friendly Restaurant Late-Night Restaurant Romantic Dining Fine Dining/Upscale Restaurant With a View

• Theater Company Restaurant offerings • Actor (Male or Female) • Vaudeville Troupe (Burlesque, • Barbecue • Bagels Aerial Arts, Jugglers, etc.)

• Best Service Dance • Best Value • Place to Dance • Biscuits • Place to Take Dance • Breakfast Classes or Lessons • Brunch • Performance Dance • Burger Company • Burrito Music Services • Doughnuts • Music Instrument • French Fries Repair Company • Fried Chicken • Music-Related Nonprofit • Healthiest Food • Recording Studio • Hot Bar/Buffet • Music Engineer or Producer • Hot Dogs • Local-Food Emphasis EATS • Locally-Made CBD treats • Lunch • Favorite Restaurant • Lunch - Business Lunch • Restaurant That • Outdoor Dining Best Represents • Pasta The Spirit Of Asheville • People-Watching Restaurant • Restaurant To Take • Pizza Out-Of-Towners To • Pub Grub • Restaurant That Gives • Quick Meal Back To The Community • Ribs • Green/Sustainability• Salad Friendly Restaurant • Seafood • New Restaurant (Opened • Special Diet Options (GlutenIn The Last 12 Months) Free, • Restaurant Still Needed Lactose-Free, etc.)

In Asheville • Sub Shop/Deli/Sandwiches Cuisines • Sushi • Chinese • Taco • French • Take-Out • Greek • Vegetarian • Indian • Vegan • Italian • Wine List • Japanese • Wings • Korean Neighborhoods • Latin American • Restaurant In Downtown • Mediterranean • Restaurant In East Asheville • Mexican • Restaurant In North Asheville • Middle Eastern • Restaurant In South Asheville • Southern • Restaurant In West Asheville • Thai • Restaurant In the Restaurant types River Arts District • Catering Company Desserts & Sweets • Diner/Homestyle • Food Truck • Desserts

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• Chocolate • Ice Cream • Frozen Treats Other Than Ice Cream

Bakeries

• Bakery (Bread) • Bakery (Sweets/Desserts)

Miscellaneous • • • • • • •

Chef Pastry Chef Local Food Festival or Event Cheesemaker/Cheese Dairy Local Food/Drink Product Butcher Shop Nonprofit Helping With Hunger Issues

DRINKS Bars

• Bar That Best Represents the Spirit Of Asheville • Bar: Local Beer Selection • Bar: Unusual Beer Selection • Bar for Live Music • Bar with a View • Bar with Bar Games • Sports Bar • Upscale Bar • Dive Bar • Hotel Bar • Gay-Friendly Bar • Bartender • Neighborhood Bar Downtown-South Slope • Neighborhood Bar River Arts District • Neighborhood Bar - East • Neighborhood Bar - North • Neighborhood Bar - South • Neighborhood Bar - West

and accurately. Note that you can take a break from voting anytime and return later. Just remember to save your ballot!

Polls close on April 30 at 12 midnight. So don’t procrastinate!

• • • • • • • • • •

Beer Store Favorite Local Beer Event Local Beer (Any Style) Local Dark Beer Local IPA Local Lager Local Sour Beer Seasonal Beer Local Cider Cidery

Cocktails & Wine • • • •

Distillery Bloody Mary Cocktails Mocktails or Nonalcoholic Options • Local Winery • Wine Bar • Wine Store

Coffee, Tea & Healthy Drinks • Coffee House • Establishment with the Best Coffee • Coffee/Tea House in Which to Read a Book • Coffee Roaster • Place to Drink Tea • Kava Bar • Smoothies/Juices • CBD drinks/health elixirs

OUTDOORS Biking

• Bicycle Club or Group • Bike Event/Race — Mountain or Road • Mountain Bike Trail

Camping

• Place to Car Camp

Beer, Cider & Breweries • Camping Spot • Local All-Round Brewery Hiking (for its beers) • Creative, Experimental Brewery • Brewery (for its taproom & atmosphere) • Family-Friendly Bar or Brewery • Bar or Brewery That Gives Back to the Community • Brewmaster • Homebrewing/ Winemaking Supplies

• Backpacking Trail/ Overnight Hike • Day Hike • Walk in or Near Asheville • Hiking Club or Group • Picnic Spot • Waterfall

Running

• Running Club or Group • Running Event/Race — Road or Trail

Water & Rivers • • • • •

Place to Relax on the Water Fishing Spot Rafting Company Swimming Hole Whitewater Paddling Section

Miscellaneous

• Canopy/Zip-Line Tour • Environmental or Conservation Nonprofit • Outdoor Gear & Apparel Shop • Skate Park • Ski Resort

SHOPPING Fashion • • • • •

Clothing: Office (Women’s) Clothing: Office (Men’s) Clothing: Dress-Up/Stylin’ Asheville-Style Clothes Clothing: Used or Vintage (for-profit store) • Clothing: Used or Vintage (nonprofit store) • Shoe Store • Jewelry Store

Food

• All-Round Grocery Store • Budget-Friendly Grocery Store • Health Food Store • Convenience/Corner Store • Import/Ethnic Food Store

Home

• New Furniture Store • Used Furniture Store (for-profit store) • Used Furniture Store (nonprofit store) • Antique Store • Bed and Mattress Store • Picture Framer

General & Miscellaneous

• Store That Best Represents The Spirit Of Asheville • Bookstore - New • Bookstore - Used • Store for Comics, Collectibles and/or Games • Record/CD Store

• Adult Toys, Lingerie & Naughty Things Store • Auto Dealer - New and/or Used • Automobile Tire Store • Bike Shop • Gift Shop • Florist • Musical Instrument Store • Head Shop • Vape Shop • Pawn Shop

PROFESSIONAL & HOME SERVICES • Heating/Cooling Company • Alt Energy Sales and Installation • Electrical/Electrician Company • Architectural Firm • Green Builder • Roofing Company • Plumbing Company • House Painters • Handyman or Woman • Moving Company • Home Cleaning Service • Pest Control Service • Equipment Rental Services • Law Firm • Criminal Law Attorney • Family Law Attorney • Real Estate Attorney • Financial Adviser • Accountant/CPA Firm • Bookkeeping Services • Place to Get Your Taxes Prepared • Print Shop • Real Estate Company • Real Estate Agent • Web Development Firm • Marketing and Graphic Design Service • Computer Repair • Car Repair • Bike Repair • Dry Cleaner • Cell Phone Service Provider for the WNC Mountains

KIDS • Child Care or Day Care Service • Parents Night Out Program

Camps • • • •

Day Camp Overnight Camp Nature Camp Kid-Friendly Hike

Medical

Fitness

• Gym or Place to Work Out • Pediatric Practice — • Fitness Studio With Classes General Medical • Pediatric Practice — Dentistry • Martial Arts Studio • Pilates Studio/Center/Classes Places • Yoga Studio • Day Trip for Kids • Yoga Teacher • Museum • Place for Birthday Parties PETS • Place to Make Art • Animal Shelter/Rescue • Playground Organization • Place for Indoor Fun • Outdoor Place to • Place for Outdoor Fun Take Your Pet • Teen-Friendly Place • Pet Supply Store to Hang Out • Pet-Friendly Bar Schools & Classes • Pet-Friendly Restaurant • Preschool Medical • School (Pre-College) • Alternative Pet Health • After-School Program Care Provider • Art Education Program • Veterinary Services • Music Teacher (Classroom) • Veterinarian

Shopping

Skill-Building

Dance Studio for Kids Gymnastics Program Martial Arts Program Youth Sports Program

HEALTH & WELLNESS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Physician (General Practice) Family Medical Practice Pediatrician Maternity Care/Service Dentist Dental Practice Orthodontist Eye Care Specialist/Service Psychologist/Counselor Hospital Place to Get Medical Care When Under- or Uninsured Women’s Health Center Pharmacy / Drugstore Place to Buy Supplements, Vitamins & Herbs Place to buy CBD oil

Alternative • • • • •

• Business that Best Represents the Spirit of Asheville • Business that Gives Back to the Community • Business with Best Customer Service • Business with EarthFriendly Practices • Co-Op/WorkerOwned Business

Chiropractor Acupuncture Clinic Acupuncturist Assisted Living Facility Place to Center Yourself

End-of-Life

• Hospice • Mortuary/Funeral Services

Physical Therapy • Physical Therapist • Physical Trainer • Massage Therapist

• • • •

• Most Important Local News Story (in the Last 12 Months) • Most Under-Reported Story (in the Last 12 Months) • Most Over-Reported Story (in the Last 12 Months) • Local News Source • Local Events Information • Local Print Publication Other Than Xpress • Local News Website • Local Podcast • Local Radio Station (commercial) • Local Radio Station (noncommercial) • Local Print Reporter • Local Radio Personality/ Announcer • Local TV Personality/ Announcer • Favorite Feature In Xpress

• Innovative or Entrepreneurial Business • Minority-Owned Business • Woman-Owned Business

WORK & BUSINESS

• Piercing Studio • Tattoo Artist • Tattoo Parlor

• Bank Services for Small Business • Bank • Credit Union

Yard Services/Sales • • • • •

Garden Supply Store Landscape/Grading Service Mulch Supplier Nursery (Trees, Shrubs) Tree Service

mountainx.com/bestofwnc

MEDIA

Banking, Mortages

• Tailgate/Farmers Market • Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Farm • Roadside Farm Stand • Farm to Visit for Events • Orchard

APRIL 30

Grooming Service Pet Daycare Facility Pet Kennel Trainer/Training Center

• Employment Sector to Work in • Support Organization for Entrepreneurs and New Businesses

Farm

VOTE NOW UNTIL

Services

• Kids’ Clothes • Toy Store • • • •

Businesses

UNIQUELY ASHEVILLE Civic, Political

• Local Body Products Maker • Spa • Tailor/Alterations

• Activist Group for Civic/ Political Action • Local Hero • Local Politician • Local Villain • Project You’d Like to See Local Government Do

Cosmetic

Culture

PERSONAL SERVICES

• • • • • •

Aesthetician Barber Shop Hair Salon Hair Stylist Nail Salon Nail Technician

Tattoo & Piercing

FARM, YARD & GARDEN

• Best Thing to Happen to Asheville in the Last 12 Months • Biggest Opportunity for Asheville’s Uniqueness • Biggest Threat to Asheville’s Uniqueness • Bumper Sticker or Slogan About Asheville • Local Asheville Attraction • Historic/Interesting Building • Local City Tour • Worst Thing to Happen to Asheville in the Last 12 Months

Events

• Holiday Event — Summer/Fall • Community Garden • Holiday Event — • Nonprofit Supporting Farms/ Winter/Spring Farmland Preservation • Local Fundraising Event

Lodging

• Hotel • B&B or Small Boutique Hotel

Neighborhoods

• Neighborhood • Thing Downtown Asheville Needs • Thing East Asheville Needs • Thing North Asheville Needs • Thing South Asheville Needs • Thing West Asheville Needs • Thing the River Arts District Needs

Nonprofits

• Nonprofit That Improves Asheville • Nonprofit That Serves the Underprivileged

Places

• Place to Connect with Nature Within Asheville City Limits • Place to Get Married • Venue to Book for a Party or Event • Place to Take Your Eccentric Friends • Street for a Stroll • Place to Pretend You’re a Tourist

REGIONAL • Questions for the following regions: Brevard Hendersonville/Flat Rock Swannanoa/Black Mountain Weaverville/Woodfin Marshall/Mars Hill Hot Springs Burnsville Waynesville/Maggie Valley/ Canton Cullowhee/Sylva • Cultural Or Historical Landmark • Breakfast Restaurant • Lunch Restaurant • Dinner Restaurant • Coffee & Sweets • Local Bar/Brewery/ Watering Hole • Music/Entertainment Venue • Art Gallery • Retail Store • Business That Best Represents the Spirit of Your Town • Cultural or Arts Event • Best Thing to Happen to Your Town in the Last 12 Months • Local Cause to Support • Local Place to Enjoy the Outdoors

FAQs

In how many categories must I vote in order for my ballot to be counted?

Each ballot must have at least 30 completed votes to be counted.

How are the votes counted?

Mountain Xpress tallies the votes by hand, taking great care to understand each voter’s intent. We reserve the right to reject any ballot with inappropriate responses.

How do you prevent voter fraud?

Ballots examined for telltale signs of voter fraud or ballot stuffing. We disqualify all ballots that appear to be fraudulent.

When does voting start and end?

Voting officially begins March 27 and continues through April 30.

How do I get a category added or changed?

The categories are set for this year, but to suggest a change for next year, email: bestofwnc@ mountainx.com

Why do voters have to vote for 30 categories?

We want meaningful results from people who are invested in and knowledgeable about the Asheville area.

I hope my business wins.

How do I get voting promotional materials?

Call us at 251-1333. We can get you a packet, or contact your sales representative for information.

Vote March 27 – April 30 at mountainx.com/bestofwnc MOUNTAINX.COM

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17

Dr. Elizabeth Garbarino

The

Sustainability Series

April 1, 8, 15 and 22 A Women’s Healthcare Practice Specializing in Gynecological Care

WELLNESS

ARE WE READY? Hospitals brace for COVID-19 cases, clamp down on visitors

Welcoming New Patients!

828.575.9562 • LivingWellWNC.com

HEALTH COVERAGE: Area hospitals are working to conserve stocks of personal protective equipment such as masks as they prepare for a wave of COVID-19 cases. Photo from Getty Images

BY MARK BARRETT markbarrett@charter.net Area hospitals have already implemented tight restrictions on visitors and say they have drawn up plans to deal with what many experts say could be a wave of patients infected with COVID-19.

But no one knows how big that wave — or multiple waves — will be and whether hospitals will be just busy or overwhelmed. Buncombe County had four known COVID-19 cases as of the morning of March 23, and numbers statewide continue to rise.

Area hospitals have taken somewhat differing approaches to the question of whether to stop performing elective surgeries and other medical procedures. There are worries nationally about whether there will be enough personal protective gear like masks and gloves for health care workers, but hospitals in the Asheville area say they have good supplies for now.

A model developed by researchers at the Harvard Global Health Institute and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health released March 17 suggests hospitals in Western North Carolina could meet the demand for hospital beds under 18

MARCH 25 - 31, 2020

MOUNTAINX.COM

its most conservative projections of COVID-19 cases in the region but not if the number of cases is high and they occur over only a few months.

There would be a shortage of intensive care beds in the region under all scenarios the model considers.

MISSION READY? Mission Hospital in Asheville, by far the region’s largest, will be key to the WNC medical community’s response to COVID-19. It has been the subject of numerous complaints in recent weeks that it is understaffed.

A spokesperson for Mission Health, the regional system the hospital belongs to, downplays worries that the system of seven hospitals will not have enough workers if the region sees a spike in COVID-19 cases. “While we have the bed capacity, staffing, supplies and equipment we need at this time, we continue to plan by accessing the resources, support and best practices across HCA Healthcare to help ensure we remain able to meet the needs of the communities we serve as the situation continues to evolve,” Nancy Lindell said March 18.

Nashville-based HCA bought the hospitals, previously owned and oper-

ated by an independent nonprofit, in February 2019. HCA is the country’s largest for-profit hospital operator.

“To ensure we are prepared for an influx of patients, we have staffing contingency plans, and those include the use of HCA Healthcare’s in-house staffing agency,” Lindell says.

At meetings held in January and February by a consulting firm monitoring the performance of the system’s new owner, speaker after speaker complained that hospitals did not have enough nurses and that even housekeeping services had suffered because of a lack of workers. A shortage of staffers is “putting patient safety at risk,” a letter released then by several local officials and state legislators from Buncombe County said.

JOBS, JOBS, JOBS On March 20, the state agency that helps job seekers find work said it had 355 listings for job openings at Mission Health facilities in Buncombe County alone. The system is the region’s largest employer.

Some Mission Hospital nurses are pushing for unionization, but it appears an election for nurses to decide whether to have National Nurses United represent them will be delayed for an undetermined period of time because of the new coronavirus. The National Labor Relations Board on March 19 suspended all union representation elections through April 3 and may well extend that period.

Attorneys for Mission won a delay in a hearing needed to set an election, saying in early March the need to prepare for it would distract senior staff from coronavirus response. A March 12 filing by an attorney for the union says Mission “is currently engaged in round-the-clock captive audience meetings with 15-20 nurses at a time” to discourage unionization.

VISITOR RESTRICTIONS Hospitals in the region are limiting visitors and screening prospective patients and others for possible COVID-19 exposure. At the Charles George VA Medical Center in Oteen, for instance, people are being screened before they even park their cars, and on March 22, the center implemented a no-visitors policy, with exceptions only for “urgent circumstances, such as grave illness or imminent death of a family member.” Mission Health also announced on March 21 that it was allowing

almost no visitors. Pediatric patients and mothers giving birth are allowed one adult visitor each.

Those coming to the VA are asked whether they have fever, cough or shortness of breath and about recent travel and contact with anyone confirmed or suspected to have COVID19. The center said March 18 that it is “reviewing all elective surgical procedures with a plan to postpone or cancel them” and has been contacting some veterans to reschedule planned procedures. It is also asking patients to contact their providers before visiting the center to see if their needs can be handled remotely.

Steps by hospitals to reduce the number of medical procedures performed now would increase supplies of protective gear available later. Mission Health had continued performing elective surgeries until announcing March 21 that it would stop as of March 23. State Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen asked hospitals March 20 to postpone all surgeries that would not cause harm to patients if delayed four weeks.

Dr. William Hathaway, chief medical officer for Mission Health, said March 18 that postponing nonemergency surgeries is “a difficult question for us. … Not all scheduled surgeries are something that can be delayed.”

If a mass is found in a woman’s breast, for instance, doctors would want to do a biopsy quickly to determine whether it is cancerous and what treatment to undertake, he said.

ies “to protect surgery patients from potential exposure to COVID-19 first and foremost,” said spokesperson Victoria Dunkle. “It was also a proactive move to make sure we have enough supplies to manage a potential surge in patients when the virus becomes more widespread.”

Dunkle said March 20 that AdventHealth officials “are concerned about the availability of [personal protective] equipment going forward.”

She said the hospital has received donations from community partners.

“We cannot tell you how much this means to our team members.”

FORECASTING HOSPITAL NEEDS The Harvard model illustrates why local, state and national officials are asking people to take steps to “flatten the curve,” i.e., spread out the period of time during which COVID19 infections occur.

If 20% of the population of the portion of WNC from McDowell County west contracts the virus, 23,804 people would need to be hospitalized at some time during the outbreak, and 5,316

would need to be placed in an intensive care unit, the model says.

If those infections are spread over 18 months, COVID-19 patients would occupy about half of the hospital beds in the region that could be made available, and if the infections came in 12 months, COVID-19 patients would need three-quarters of potentially available beds. But if the cases came over just a six-month period, COVD-19 patients would need all hospital beds in the region likely to be available plus 51% more.

Even the lower percentages would be problematic, as the need for hospital beds for people suffering from other illnesses would presumably continue as usual. The number of potentially available beds assumes that half of all beds in the region would be occupied by people with other illnesses. About 64% of hospital beds in the region were occupied in 2018.

The model does not account for any temporary hospital beds that might be created in the region. It says many more beds would be needed if infection rates reach 40% or 60% during six- or 12-month periods. X

CONSERVING PROTECTIVE GEAR Lindell says Mission is asking staff to conserve protective gear “by following, but not exceeding, the guidelines for infection prevention.”

Pardee UNC Health Care, which includes a hospital in Hendersonville, continues to offer elective surgeries as of March 20, spokesperson Erica Allison said.

That decision is based on consultation with the local health department, monitoring of residents who have been testing for COVID-19 and an “adequate supply” of protective gear, she said.

“At this time, we have adequate supplies and are in ongoing communications with our vendors to maintain those levels,” Allison said. She said elective procedures are not compromising that supply but Pardee is “making every effort” to conserve the most crucial gear that would be needed to deal with COVID-19 cases.

AdventHealth Hendersonville in northern Henderson County has stopped performing elective surgerMOUNTAINX.COM

MARCH 25 - 31, 2020

19

FOOD

Dining distress How to navigate eatery closures and support restaurant industry workers

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It wasn’t the St. Patrick’s Day celebration breweries, bars and restaurants typically prepare for. Instead, on March 17, in response to COVID-19, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper issued an executive order closing all bars and restaurants to dine-in customers.

Those who had observed similar actions taken in other cities were not surprised, but few were fully prepared for such a screeching halt to an industry that is a vital component of the region’s economic engine. Suddenly, hundreds of restaurants and thousands of employees, from chefs to dishwashers, were out of work. The ripple effect is profound, affecting farmers and suppliers who rely on the restaurant trade.

Primary concerns among owners was how to keep their business afloat through an unprecedented crisis, and how to care for the employees they count as family. Many immediately pivoted to take advantage of what is permitted under the executive order: carry-out and delivery.

Some restaurants’ doors remain open for take away orders; others have instituted call-ahead ordering and curbside pick-up.

Many are suggesting taking advantage of food delivery services such as Uber Eats, Postmates as well as locally owned Takeout Central and KickbackAVL (which is hiring to accommodate the surge in food deliveries). Check those companies’ websites to learn what restaurants they partner with.

In addition to food, there are adult beverages available for delivery (to those 21 and older), and some local wine stores are also doing deliveries or call-ahead and curbside/parking lot pick-up.

The best resource for information on your favorite restaurant (or one you’ve been meaning to try but hadn’t gotten around to, or couldn’t get a reservation) is through social media pages and websites. There, you will find hours of operation and menus — some of which have been streamlined for the current situation — as well as new options for family-sized, heat-and-eat meals in addition to individual items.

The Ashville Independent Restaurant Association has a document listing any

MOUNTAINX.COM

IN IT TOGETHER: Closed restaurants and limited market hours are an inconvenience for diners and customers. But to the people who work in the industry, these changes are life- and career-altering. Pictured, strawberry onions. Photo courtesy of the WNC Farmer’s Market regional restaurant that submits information on its current operation. AIR counts 150 member restaurants (employing over 6,000 people), but the list is not limited to members. “We made the decision to include all local restaurants that contact us,” says AIR executive director Jane Anderson. “Now is not the time to be exclusive. We are all in this together.”

Check the website at airasheville.org and refer to the Asheville Takeout link for a google document.

Another option to financially support local eateries (and other businesses) is through the purchase of gift cards, to be redeemed when we can all gather again.

Visit ashevillestrong.com.

Not into delayed gratification? While brewery tasting rooms are closed, beer enthusiasts can purchase local canned and bottled brews sold in grocery stores and markets.

Speaking of markets, Buncombe County’s emergency preparedness coordinator Fletcher Tove reports grocery stores and pharmacies may remain open. Several individual or smaller operations, however, have adjusted their operating hours to allow for more cleaning and restocking time and have implemented protocols to allow a limited number of shoppers in the store at one time. Some have also launched a onehour window for senior-only shopping prior to opening for all shoppers (early birds get the frozen pizza and toilet paper). Call ahead or check websites and social media platforms for up-to-the-minute information.

While most regional outdoor tailgate markets take a cold-weather sabbatical, the Asheville City Market-Winter operates January through March in the Masonic Temple on Broadway on Saturday mornings. Anyone who has wrestled their way through the crowds to get the last bag of arugula or loaf of bread was not surprised that, due to the ban on gatherings more than 100 people, Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, which runs that market, made the tough decision to cancel it on March 14.

In response to other closures and to assist farmers, producers and customers, ASAP kicked off an interim outdoor Saturday market on the campus of A-B Tech, starting March 21. It will be set up in parking lots A2, A3 and A7, with limited access from the end of Persistence Drive off Victoria Road.

New procedures to maintain social distancing guidelines and health standards include queuing in vehicles before being permitted to park, maintaining a distance from vendors, no handling of produce and no payment transactions at the market.

Payments can be made online after shopping using the honor system at asapconnections.org.

The website will have up-to-date information on how long this market will operate, as well as details on other tailgates and CSA sign-ups. According to communications coordinator Sarah Hart, ASAP expects at least 20 vendors to participate. “It will be a learning curve for all of us,” she says. “We don’t know how long we will remain there, but the good thing about the A-B Tech setup is there is plenty of room to grow as needed.”

The outdoor sheds of the WNC Farmers Market, with regional and trucked produce that services retail customers as well as a huge wholesale clientele, remain open daily, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. through the end of March, and until 6 p.m. beginning April 1. X

Cultural exchange Esther Joseph closes Calypso Caribbean restaurant to focus on feeding body and soul Ever since Esther Joseph opened her downtown Caribbean restaurant, Calypso, in fall 2016, she has shut down operations for a month each January, taking advantage of the annual post-holiday slowdown to rest and rejuvenate. Yet, this year, when the windows of the storefront restaurant on Lexington Avenue remained covered in brown paper into February, customers and neighboring businesses began to wonder when she would open again.

Sadly for fans of Joseph’s vibrant island cuisine, Calypso is permanently closed. Joseph says she has mixed emotions since she made her decision. “I woke up New Year’s Day, and I realized I was exhausted,” she says.

“I thought, ‘I can’t go back. I don’t want to go back.’ The first feeling was relief,” she continues.

“Then, as I’ve talked to people and they have told me how much they will miss it, I have felt sadness.

But ultimately, I am happy with my decision.”

A native of St. Lucia who studied restaurant management in New York, started a landscaping company, received a degree in international affairs from New York University and a doctor of naturopathy degree from Trinity School of Natural Health, Joseph has had a lifelong passion for nutrition and healthy eating. She moved to Asheville in 2011 and bought a small farm in Candler.

She opened her restaurant, she says, to fill a niche and as a labor of love. “I opened Calypso as a way for me to give back to the place I fell in love with,” says Joseph. “I wanted people to experience a little slice of the Caribbean world that they didn’t know. I am quite certain I am the only St. Lucian in Asheville.”

Joseph’s menu did not compromise for or cater to American tastes or the tourist trade. It offered Caribbean specialties such as conch escabeche, salt fish fritters (accras), curried goat roti, callaloo, braised oxtail, petit piton stew and curried yams and bananas.

her stint as a restaurant owner — particularly in unsettled times such as these — is that people want to gather, share and talk, and food is a conduit to that.

“When people are stressed out, they often reach for the worst kinds of food. Healthy, nutritious food is important to transformation. I have always said. ‘Feed the body, feed the soul,’ but you have to have both,” she says.

“I am a teacher at heart, so that will be at the center of my next project,” says Joseph. “I want to create a truly sacred space where I can provide people with what they need to nourish themselves in body and soul, find transformation and shift their lives into something worth living. That is my intention now.”

Whatever is next for Joseph, it won’t be in the Calypso space. “I am at a point in my life where I’m not attached to much — not a business, not a building, not things. I am ready to move on and go with the flow,” she says. “Whatever I do, I will give it my best, but I will not do anything that isn’t feeding me spiritually.”

— Kay West X

LABOR OF LOVE: Esther Joseph opened Calypso in 2016 to bring the flavors of her native St. Lucia to Asheville. She recently closed the restaurant to focus on health and wellness. “I am a teacher at heart, so that will be at the center of my next project,” she says. Photo from 2017 by Thomas Calder “Running such a unique restaurant was really, really difficult,” she says.

“Half of the things on my menu I couldn’t get in Asheville and had to drive three times a month to Atlanta to get product.”

But the biggest hurdle Joseph encountered was related to staffing.

“Training the kitchen to cook the food and the servers to talk about it was challenging,” she says, noting that the density of hotels and restaurants in Asheville can be problematic for small eateries.

“I was getting frustrated and stressed, and that’s not who I want to be. I want to be a kind, compassionate human being. I wanted to change the negative aspects of restaurant culture, and instead, it was changing me,” she says.

Joseph describes herself as a person who tries to take lessons from every experience. Her takeaway from MOUNTAINX.COM

MARCH 25 - 31, 2020

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Catcher of the rye J Bread focuses on specialty loaves It was while working at Epiphany Farms Restaurant in his hometown of Bloomington, Ill., that Jay Seibert had a revelation of his own. “I started out there washing dishes and then prepping veggies,” he says. “One of the chefs there thought I would be good at bread, so I started making bread there and loved it.”

Though the restaurant focused on white-flour, yeasted breads, Seibert found himself fascinated with sourdough. “I did learn scale and how to make large batches of dough, and I just kept sourdough in the back of my mind,” he says.

A few years later, Seibert and his wife, Shelby, left Illinois and “stumbled into Yancey County,” where he got a job doing the bread service for Fox & the Fig in Spruce Pine. This arrangement set in motion a series of precipitous events that led to his current, growing business, J Bread.

“I had been reading up on rye bread and how healthy it is, and I just had to make that bread,” he explains. “If I was going to bake bread, it had to be organic, stone-milled flour. I found Carolina Ground and, if not for them, I couldn’t have done this.”

With his own starter and bags of rye flour from Carolina Ground, Seibert began baking loaves of sourdough rye in the restaurant’s oven on Mondays, when it was closed, then selling them at the Micaville Farmers Market in Burnsville.

It was at the market that he met artist and stonemason Jerry Newton, who offered his wood-fired oven in the space he was converting into the Mushroom Factory artist studios. A short time later, Seibert debuted his J Bread seeded rye at the North Asheville Tailgate Market.

“That blew everything out of the water,” he recalls. “I was baking for 24 hours straight, like 100 loaves of bread, and then going to market. I needed my own, bigger oven.”

He didn’t have to go far. He received a loan from a local lender group, and Newton leased him space in his building; with the assistance of friends and local craftsmen, he lit the first fire in the J Bread oven in June 2019.

“The main motivation behind the wood-fired oven is to be more resilient.

I cut and stack all my own wood, which I get mostly as cut-offs from local mills

LOAFING AROUND: Jay Seibert shapes a loaf of Latvian-style Riga rye bread before putting it in the wood-fired oven he built.

Photo by Matthew Shrier and logging operations,” he says. “I try to use the stuff considered the lowest grade, like poplar, hemlock and pine.

They burn a superhot, bright flame.

I can do 50 pan loaves at a time and about 30 hearth loaves.”

The most popular of his heavy, dense loaves is the sourdough seeded rye. He also does a Turkey Red whole-grain heirloom wheat loaf, a lighter sesame wheat variety (that is not fully whole grain, he explains) and a Latvian-style circular loaf called Riga rye.

Seibert is most excited by the 100% Einkorn wheat bread he makes using grain milled by Farm & Sparrow.

“Einkorn is an ancient strain of wheat, the oldest strain on Earth, from the first domesticated strain of wheat,” he says.

“It is such a pleasure to have access to that and share it through my bread.”

J Bread is sold at local tailgate markets, including the Asheville City Market.

To be added to the J Bread mailing list for availability updates, contact Seibert at woodfiredrye@gmail.com.

— Kay West X

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

AT THE BOUNDARIES OF JAZZ Pimps of Pompe and Up Jumped Three release new self-titled albums

BY BILL KOPP bill@musoscribe.com Two Asheville-based groups are releasing new, self-titled recordings.

And though both ensembles are working within the jazz idiom, the styles of music they create are worlds apart. In connection with their album releases, both Up Jumped Three and Pimps of Pompe had scheduled live shows locally, but in light of the unfolding crisis around COVID-19, both shows were canceled. But the new albums will be available on schedule in digital format.

HOT JAZZ MEETS HIP-HOP Asheville-based Pimps of Pompe have a unique musical approach. The band takes inspiration from modern hip-hop and rhythm and blues, bending those forms into the style of preWorld War II hot jazz. The group’s new self-titled EP showcases that process alongside original songs and selected jazz classics.

Songwriter, bandleader and mandolinist Cynthia McDermott says that Pimps of Pompe allows her to explore her love of jazz and modern music at the same time. “I’ve been playing trad jazz, swing and gypsy jazz for 10 years,” she explains. “I love that music, but I felt like it could use an update to feel relevant to me and to audiences that aren’t necessarily exposed to a lot of older music. And I love hip-hop and rap — music from the ’90s and 2000s. So I wanted to find a way to put all the things that I love together in one sound.”

Recasting songs like Beyoncé’s “Drunk in Love” — a highlight of Pimps of Pompe’s new release — into the jazz idiom requires some creativity; for all its virtues, the original recording isn’t strong on melody. “I love hip-hop music,” McDermott stresses, “but that music isn’t necessarily very advanced, harmonically.” At the same time, she points out, Beyoncé’s lyrics have a depth that’s sometimes lacking in carefree, Jazz Age songs. “Putting together these two styles brought something that was, to my ears, missing from each style.”

Pimps of Pompe’s hybrid works aim to emphasize the best of both

THIS IS HOW IT IS: Pimps of Pompe explore the connection between jazz manouche and urban hip-hop on their self-titled debut EP. A live show in celebration of the release will be held on a future date. Photo courtesy of the artists forms. The darkness and melodramatic vibe of “Drunk in Love” is leavened by channeling it into a cheerful, upbeat jazz arrangement. And the group’s goal of fun is furthered by its uptempo approach. “I went through some times playing music professionally where I felt too serious about what I was doing,” McDermott admits. “Being lighthearted and playful is a focus of what this band is about.”

McDermott readily acknowledges that Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox serves as an inspiration for what her band does. “It’s fun to create that jazz vibe for songs where the chord progression might not be very prominent,” she says.

Pimps of Pompe isn’t only about reinventions: The EP features a pair of McDermott originals and readings of songs by gypsy-jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. But, for its live performances, the group puts primary focus on the hybrid form, with covers of Snoop Dogg’s “Gin & Juice” and SaltN-Pepa’s “Shoop.”

McDermott says that the EP is designed “to express the range of what we do, but I chose songs that we can deliver with some kind of connection.”

Learn more and find the album at mandocynmusic.com/pop.

IMPLIED RHYTHM Rhythm is traditionally a key component in music. But, especially within the jazz idiom, some groups craft a sound that doesn’t include a drummer. In the tradition of trios led by Art Tatum, Tal Farlow and other greats, Asheville’s Up Jumped Three makes original instrumental jazz with saxophone, guitar and upright bass. The trio’s latest release is a self-titled album.

“As with any jazz group, rhythmically and harmonically, the center is the bass,” says Bryan White, Up Jumped Three’s bassist. “And one of the cool things about thinking about time in that way — everybody is responsible for it — is that we all take on that responsibility to keep up, keep rooted and keep moving.”

Up Jumped Three’s music does move.

Each of the three musicians — White, saxophonist Frank Southecorvo and guitarist Tim Winter — composes. “We all write independently, but the arranging and the final coloring, so to speak, we do as a group,” explains White.

“What really makes everything come alive is how we arrange [the music].”

Improvisation and the open-ended musical values of free jazz greatly inform

the trio’s approach, but there’s a sense of structure at work as well. “We’re all influenced by more modern jazz aesthetics and even classical, in some cases,” White says. “We’ll sometimes write a fully composed melody section, and then have a separate set of changes to solo on, or we’ll have an unwritten melody section in the middle, where it’s like, ‘OK, we’ve played the composed portion. Now let’s blow!’”

The 14 tracks on Up Jumped Three were all recorded live in the studio, with a minimum of postperformance fixes; that approach was essential to preserving the music’s organic feel.

White says that a level of unspoken communication is essential to making the trio’s music work in a live setting.

“It’s a balance between listening with your ears and ‘listening’ with your eyes,” he says. “The communication is musical, but it’s also multisensory in a lot of respects.”

The three musicians have been together as Up Jumped Three for more than five years. White says that over time, he and his bandmates have become collectively more willing to experiment musically. “We’re more comfortable with deconstructing our early tunes and doing new things with them,” he says. “It’s amazing, the ease with which new things come together. New ideas spring forth, ideas you didn’t think about before.”

Learn more and purchase the album at upjumpedthree.bandcamp.com. X

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23

A&E

by Alli Marshall

amarshall@mountainx.com

Sister Ivy releases ‘Modern Myth’ “Sister Ivy is the voice of the vine that weaves in and out of roots and open air, mixes with the weeds and climbs to lofty vistas on the limbs of grand trees,” reads the website for the Asheville-based surrealistic soul project. The group, led by vocalist Rachel Waterhouse, draws from elements of jazz, R&B and rock to create songs such as the dreamy, deeply groove-centric “Sepia Sun.” That track nods to the likes of Brand New Heavies and Morcheeba, centering Waterhouse’s molasses-y vocals among crisp percussion and atmospheric keys.

Sister Ivy dropped Modern Myth, its debut full-length album (following the collective’s 2018 EP Plecia) on Friday, March 20, as a soft

launch for local fans. The wider world won’t receive the new songs until June 16.

“We don’t want to fully withhold the album from all who supported the Indiegogo campaign … or from all the folks who come out to the release show and tour,” Waterhouse says of the soft release. “So we will be pressing a limited amount of CDs and vinyl to be sent to those who preordered.”

A live event was postponed, but keep an eye out for a rescheduled performance date. “Sets have the tendency to delve into … ethereal loops and some spoken word,” the band promises on its website.

“Listen at your own risk.” X

CROWDSOURCED: Sister Ivy holds a soft launch for Modern Myth in part to thank fans who contributed to an Indiegogo campaign to fund the album. Photo by Libby Gamble

ARTS UPDATE

by Edwin Arnaudin | Send your arts news to ae@mountainx.com

Music for Quarantine

Guidance for Arts Professionals & Organizations While news of COVID-19 has come with plenty of information (and misinformation), it’s also come with an unprecedented number of performance and event cancellations. That leaves local creatives in need of much more than hand sanitizer. Asheville Area Arts Council is providing some assistance in the form of an online resource: Guidance for Arts Professionals & Organizations. The database includes information and contacts from organizations such as WNC Nonprofit Pathways and the National Coalition for Arts’ Preparedness & Emergency Response. There are also articles such as “Canceled gigs due to coronavirus? Here’s what you can do” by Lisa Husseini, who coaches creatives and entrepreneurs. Find the up-to-date resource at ashevillearts.com/advocacy/covid-19. Photo by Getty Images 24

MARCH 25 - 31, 2020

MOUNTAINX.COM

Western North Carolina’s live music venues may be temporarily closed due to COVID-19 concerns, but local artists remain active and are devising imaginative ways to share their work with audiences. Among the efforts is Asheville singer-songwriter Hannah Kaminer’s service that digitally connects fellow area artists with homebound music lovers for approximately 45-minute sets. Currently titled “Music for Quarantine” — Kaminer is also considering the name “Virtual Concert Service” — the program seeks to provide paid work for musicians who have had traditional gigs canceled, plus music and conversation for people struggling with a lack of human connection and/or are simply missing going to concerts. “I am still really working out the kinks, but I’m hoping that people will use it to connect with people who are feeling the effects of the social distancing/isolation,” Kaminer says. “I’m definitely thinking about my grandma and how she lives alone. So many people do!” hannahkaminer.com.

Photo by Shonie Kuykendall

MOVIE REVIEWS

Hosted by the Asheville Movie Guys EDWIN ARNAUDIN earnaudin@mountainx.com

BRUCE STEELE bcsteele@gmail.com

AVAILABLE VIA GRAIL MOVIEHOUSE’S ONLINE ‘SOFA CINEMA.’ Bacurau (NR) HHHS A resilient Brazilian community faces off against a corrupt local government and assassins hired to destroy their village.

Corpus Christi (NR) Unable to apply to the seminary, a reformed criminal dresses as a priest and ministers a small town parish. The Polish film was a recent Academy Award nominee for Best International Feature.

Available starting March 27

PLEASE STAY SAFE!

Saint Frances (NR) HHHH (Pick of the Week)

WE MISS YOU.

AVAILABLE TO RENT VIA STREAMING SERVICES Birds of Prey (R) HHH

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL MUSICIANS

Bloodshot (PG-13) HHH

Saint Frances HHHH DIRECTOR: Alex Thompson PLAYERS: Kelly O’Sullivan, Max Lipchitz, Ramona Edith Williams COMEDY/DRAMA NOT RATED Unlike Obvious Child, which remains one of the most miserable viewing experiences of the 21st century, Saint Frances is a legitimately funny movie about abortion that also intelligently weaves in refreshingly straightforward depictions of gay parenting and postpartum depression.

This indie charmer is an impressive feature-writing debut for actress Kelly O’Sullivan (Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party), who also plays magnetic leading lady Bridget, a 34-yearold Chicagoan waitress who has yet to do much with her life.

Bridget’s days receive a boost via strong comedic rapport with new, slightly younger love interest Jace (newcomer Max Lipchitz), with whom she soon navigates an unwanted pregnancy that’s depicted with laudable detail, humor and honesty by O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson, who is making his feature directorial debut.

While maneuvering those challenges, Bridget is hired by affluent Annie (Lily Mojekwu, Widows) and Maya (Charin Alvarez, Princess Cyd) to be the summer nanny for their 6-year-old daughter Frances (Ramona Edith Williams) while Maya cares for their newborn son — and throughout his protagonist’s journey, Thompson’s style is so free of male gaze that it’s

somewhat of a shock to discover that his name isn’t short for Alexandra.

While Saint Frances unfortunately loses track of Jace when Bridget develops eyes for attractive older guitar instructor Isaac (Jim True-Frost, The Hudsucker Proxy) — a largely forgettable and inconsequential tangent — the quality laughs continue as the focus more fully shifts to Bridget and Frances.

Not asked to do anything beyond her capabilities, Williams is instead allowed to lean on her natural comedic gifts and innocence. In turn, she delivers a nicely independent yet smartly directed child performance, rooted in Frances saying the darndest things in public, much to our delight and Bridget’s horror.

As nanny and her ward develop a strong, trusting bond and the complications of Frances’ mothers’ marriage become more pronounced, the film gradually goes from a well-written lark to something far more sweet and substantial.

By its end, Saint Frances also feels surprisingly complete — a rarity for either well-funded or budget-friendly comedies — and solidifies its gifted cast and crew of relative newcomers as talents to watch.

Available to rent for home viewing via a new service, Grail Moviehouse’s Sofa Cinema initiative, at grailmoviehouse.com. The 48-hour rental costs $11.50 and 50% of each purchase goes directly to the theater.

REVIEWED BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN EARNAUDIN@MOUNTAINX.COM

Emma. (PG) HHHS The Hunt (R) HHS The Invisible Man (R) HHHHS Onward (PG) HHHHS Spies in Disguise (PG) HHHH

ISISASHEVILLE.COM

The Way Back (R) HHHH

743 HAYWOOD RD | 828-575-2737

SCREEN SCENE

Photo by Neal Reed.

Asheville-area movie theaters are among the numerous local businesses taking a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Fine Arts Theatre, Grail Moviehouse and Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co.; Pisgah Film House and Co-Ed Cinema in Brevard; and the Flat Rock Cinema in Henderson County have all temporarily closed their establishments. Local chain theaters, including the AMC River Hills 10, Regal Biltmore Grande and Carolina Cinemark Asheville, also ceased operations until further notice and are not charging members of their respective membership/discount programs until they reopen.

But while theaters aren’t serving moviegoers in the traditional sense, leaders like Leah Chang, manager/programmer at the Fine Arts Theatre, are working on creative ways to assist cinephiles during these unusual times.

“The Fine Arts Theatre plans to uphold owner John Cram’s vision of cinema as

a service to the community by exploring options to virtually connect with film fans,” Chang says. “Even though we have to maintain social distance physically, we can still find ways to interact meaningfully with each other, perhaps through livestreaming discussions about films or sharing original local content.”

Chang encourages patrons to keep in touch with the Fine Arts on social media and look to its website for updates. Grail Moviehouse owners Davida Horwitz and Steve White are similarly using their theater’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts and its newsletter to digitally interact with their clientele and keep them up to date.

“We’re also exploring ways to engage with customers through video content and possibly live interactive events,” Horwitz and White say. “We may also revive a feature from our original website called the ‘Screening Room,’ which featured short films from local filmmakers. Although none of these are revenue generators, we would love to still connect Grail patrons to different film experiences.”

Theater reps additionally encourage cinephiles to consider purchasing gift cards, and Philip Henry, executive director of Pisgah Film House, is accepting tax-deductible donations for his nonprofit. -E.A.X

MOUNTAINX.COM

MARCH 25 - 31, 2020

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FREEWILL ASTROLOGY ARIES (March 21-April 19): Your oracle comes from Aries poet Octavio Paz: “The path the ancestors cleared is overgrown, unused. The other path, smooth and broad, is crowded with travelers. It goes nowhere. There’s a third path: mine. Before me, no one. Behind me, no one. Alone, I find my way.” APRIL FOOL! Although the passage by Octavio Paz is mostly accurate for your destiny during the rest of 2020, it’s off-kilter in one way: It’s too ponderously serious and melodramatic. You should find a way to carry out its advice with meditative grace and effervescent calm.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): A century ago, fiery writer Maxim Gorky and hard-ass Taurus politician Vladimir Lenin were listening to a Beethoven sonata together. “I can’t listen to music too often,” Lenin told his companion. “It affects your nerves, makes you want to say stupid, nice things.” This is crucial advice for you to heed in the coming weeks, Taurus. You need to be as smart and tough as possible, so don’t you dare listen to music. APRIL FOOL! Lenin was half-mistaken, and I half-lied. The fact is, music makes you smarter and nicer, and those will be key assets for you to cultivate in the coming weeks. So yes, do listen to a lot of music.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): By the time he was 55 years old, Gemini author Thomas Hardy had written 18 novels and many poems. His stuff was good enough to win him two separate nominations for a Nobel Prize in Literature.

But during the last 32+ years of his life, he never wrote another novel. According to one theory, it was because he was discouraged by the negative reviews he got for his last novel. I suspect you may be at a similar juncture in your life, Gemini. Maybe it’s time to give up on a beloved activity that hasn’t garnered the level of success you’d hoped for. APRIL FOOL! The truth is, it is most definitely NOT time to lose hope and faith. Don’t be like Hardy. Rededicate yourself to your passionate quests.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Cancerian theologian John Wesley (1703–1791) was a Christian who embodied the liberal values that Christ actually taught. He advocated for the abolition of slavery, prison reform, the ordination of women priests and a vegetarian diet. He gave away a lot of his money and administered many charities.

To accomplish his life’s work, he traveled 250,000 miles on horseback and preached 40,000 sermons.

Let’s make him your role model for the coming weeks. Be inspired by his life as you vividly express your care and compassion. APRIL FOOL! I lied a little bit. Although most of what I just recommended is a good idea, the part about traveling long distances, either on horseback or by other means, is not.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The neurotic but talented French novelist Marcel Proust observed, “Everything vital in the world comes from neurotics. They alone have founded religions and composed our masterpieces.” With that in mind, and in accordance with current astrological omens, I urge you to cultivate your own neurotic qualities in their extreme forms of expression during the coming weeks.

You’re due for some major creative breakthroughs.

APRIL FOOL! I was kidding. The fact is, you can generate creative breakthroughs in the coming weeks by being poised and composed — not extra neurotic.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo author Leon Edel wrote a five-volume biography of renowned author Henry James. In the course of his research, he read 15,000 letters that were written by James. He came to have a profound familiarity with the great man.

In accordance with current astrological omens, I recommend that you choose a worthy character about whom you will become equally knowledgeable. APRIL FOOL! I half-lied. It’s true that now is an excellent time to deepen your understanding of people you care about. But don’t get as obsessed as Edel!

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MARCH 25 - 31, 2020

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): About 2,000 years ago, a Roman woman named Sulpicia wrote six short love poems — a total of 40 lines — that are still being analyzed and discussed by literary scholars today. I bring her to your attention because I think that in the next four weeks you, too, could generate a small burst of beauty that will still be appreciated 2,000 years from now. APRIL FOOL! I lied about the “small” part. The burst of beauty you create in the immediate future could actually be quite large, as well as enduring.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): French poet Louis Aragon (1897–1982) was an influential novelist and a pioneer of surrealistic poetry. Much of his writing had a lyrical quality, and many of his poems were set to music. He also had a belligerent streak. Before the publication of one of his books, he announced that he would thrash any writer who dared to review it in print. Success! There were no critical reviews at all. I recommend his approach to you in the coming weeks.

Make it impossible for anyone to criticize you. APRIL FOOL! I lied. I would never suggest that you use violence to accomplish your aims. And besides that, the coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to solicit feedback of all varieties, even the critical kind.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I hesitate to be so blunt, but it’s my duty to report the facts. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you should have as many orgasms as possible in the next 15 days.

You need to tap into the transformative psychological power that’s available through monumental eruptions of pleasure and releases of tension. (P.S. Spiritual orgasms will be just as effective as physical orgasms.)

APRIL FOOL! What I just said is true, but I left out an important component of your assignment: Be loving and responsible as you pursue your joyous climaxes, never manipulative or exploitative or insensitive.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Ancient Greek orator Demosthenes was renowned for his skill at delivering powerful, charismatic speeches. While he was still learning his craft, he resorted to extreme measures to improve. For example, there was a time when he shaved just half of his head. It made him ashamed to go out in public, forcing him to spend all his time indoors practicing his speeches. Would you consider a similar strategy right now? APRIL FOOL! I was just messing with you. It’s true that the coming weeks will be a good time to minimize your socializing and devote yourself to hard work in behalf of a beloved dream. But shaving half your head isn’t the best way to accomplish that.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): The coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to tell as many lies as possible if doing so helps you get what you want. I hereby authorize you to engage in massive deceptions, misrepresentations and manipulative messages as you seek to impose your will on every flow of events.

APRIL FOOL! I lied. In fact, everything I just said was the exact opposite of your actual horoscope, which is as follows: You have a sacred duty to tell more of the truth than you have ever been able to tell before.

As you dig deeper to discover more and more of what’s essential for you to understand and express, dedicate your efforts to the goal of gliding along with the most beautiful and interesting flow you can find.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Fifteen minutes before the Big Bang occurred, where was the matter that now constitutes your body and my body? And if, as seems to be true, the Big Bang was the beginning of time, what time was it 15 minutes earlier? Questions like these are crucial for you to ponder in the next two weeks. APRIL FOOL! I lied. The questions I articulated should in fact be very low priority for you. In the immediate future, you’ll be wise to be as concrete and specific and pragmatic as you can possibly be.

Focus on up-close personal questions that you can actually solve, not abstract, unsolvable riddles.

MOUNTAINX.COM

MARKETPLACE

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edited by Will Shortz 20 Iron alloy that includes a bit of tungsten and chromium 22 People in go-karts 23 Mast 24 Picture from a parlor, informally 25 When repeated, a hip-hop dance 26 Add (up) 28 Volunteer for another tour 31 Not yet out of the running 33 Physics 101 subject 35 Tchotchkes 40 Fountain choices 42 Verbal tussle 43 Response to a computer crash 44 Incompetent figure of old slapstick 47 ___ pony 48 Tennis champ Mandlikova 49 Just gets (by) 51 Pony ___ 52 T.S.A. requests 55 Grammy category 56 Something of little interest, a homeowner hopes

puzzle by Alex Eaton-Salners 58 Himalayan language 60 Reject romantically … or a hint to the starts of the answers to 18and 35-Across, phonetically 65 Show interest romantically … or a hint to the ends of the answers to 20- and 44-Across, phonetically 67 Lollipop-sucking TV detective 68 Wyatt and Warren of the Old West 69 Suffix with senior 70 Muse of love poetry 71 Something done up in an updo 72 Popular game that needs no equipment 73 Few and far between

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1 Not get above 60, say 2 Behind bars 3 Like a double black diamond trail

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4 Hungarian 37 Embarrassing 53 ___ flask thing to have (thermos) horseman one’s hand 5 Fashion magazine 54 Steeple topper caught in with more than 57 Herbivore’s diet 40 international 38 Member of the 59 24-Down and editions cabbage family others 6 Actor Diggs 39 Kiss amorously 7 Not just “ha ha” 60 Capt.’s inferiors 41 Like an overcast 8 Winter zone in D.C. night 61 Legislature V.I.P. 9 What a curse 45 Studio sign 62 Tiny, informally might lead to 46 ___ walk 63 It’s unavoidable 10 Former attorney 50 Harry Potter’s general Holder Quidditch position 64 Ring result, for short 11 Baltimore N.F.L.’er 52 Alaska or Hawaii, 12 “Don Giovanni,” often 66 :15 number e.g.

13 Lacking in detail ANSWER TO PREVIOUS NY TIMES PUZZLE 14 “Just a sec!,” in a O K R A A T E T H R E E S text S N O C O N E S H E A V E N 19 Chugged or sipped L O V E C O N Q U E R S A L L 21 Go the distance?

O W E H I T P O M P 24 Popular videoS O N S O L E E M O sharing service D E A T H A N D T A X E S 26 Project manager’s D O W S O X S I X E R S assignment R E I N S W E B C I R C A 27 Onetime buffaloA L T O I D L A B O T S hunting tribe 29 Open, as a purse T H U N D E R S T O R M S 30 Part of a church S I P E P I G T O S organ A L L A U T A G P S 32 Camper’s cover W A R T O E N D A L L W A R S 34 Pulp I M E A N T O N E D O Z E N 36 Wedding N O O D G E G O D K E Y S reception staple

#ashevillestrong Baba Nahm Dinners To Go Ready to heat & eat, or put in the freezer for later. Please check social media for the updated menu and hours of operation.

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