Mountain Xpress 05.13.20

OUR 26TH YEAR OF WEEKLY INDEPENDENT NEWS, ARTS & EVENTS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA VOL. 26 NO. 42 MAY 13-19, 2020

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C O NT E NT S

FEATURES NEWS

A special thank you to all our advertisers, who make Xpress possible.

11 ON THE MONEY A look into who will benefit from local COVID-19 business relief

Calypso - Esther F. Joseph Center for Craft Chinese Acupuncture & Herbology Clinic City of Asheville Sanitation Franny’s Farm - Franny’s Farmacy - Franny’s Farm Camp

WELLNESS

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Black Bear BBQ 13 COVID CONVERSATIONS Five local residents share stories about coping with the pandemic

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GREEN

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18 MARKING A MILESTONE HCA files first annual report since acquiring Mission

20 PLANTING THE SEED Slow Food Asheville celebrates okra with Heritage Food Project

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22 CIAO FOR NOW Chow Chow board postpones culinary festival to September 2021

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24 BLUNT TALK Spaceman Jones launches ‘Smoke Break’ video podcast from quarantine

Mostly Automotive Inc. Mountain Area Pregnancy Services (MAPS) Nature’s Vitamins and Herbs New Belgium Brewing

Prior to COVID-19, North Carolina’s unemployment program had not covered people who worked for themselves. But on April 24, the state began accepting applications from gig economy workers. Xpress speaks with local self-employed community members about how they’re navigating the unemployment benefits process and the larger challenge of making ends meeting during the economic downturn.

COVER PHOTO Cindy Kunst COVER DESIGN Scott Southwick

Habitat for Humanity Restore Half Moon Market

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5 LETTERS 5 CARTOON: MOLTON 6 CARTOON: IRENE OLDS 7 CARTOON: BRENT BROWN 8 NEWS 12 BUNCOMBE BEAT 13 BIZ BRIEFS 13 COVID CONVERSATIONS 16 ASHEVILLE ARCHIVES 17 COMMUNITY CALENDAR 18 WELLNESS 20 GREEN SCENE 21 FOOD 23 BEER SCOUT 24 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 26 SMART BETS 27 MOVIES 29 COVIDTOWN CRIER 30 FREEWILL ASTROLOGY 30 CLASSIFIEDS 31 NY TIMES CROSSWORD

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STAFF PUBLISHER: Jeff Fobes ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER: Susan Hutchinson MANAGING EDITOR: Virginia Daffron OPINION EDITOR: Tracy Rose GREEN SCENE EDITOR: Daniel Walton STAFF REPORTERS: Able Allen, Edwin Arnaudin, Thomas Calder, Laura Hackett, Daniel Walton COMMUNITY CALENDAR & CLUBLAND: Lauren Andrews, Laura Hackett, Susan Hutchinson MOVIE SECTION HOSTS: Edwin Arnaudin, Bruce Steele CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Peter Gregutt, Rob Mikulak REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Mark Barrett, Leslie Boyd, Bill Kopp, Cindy Kunst, Alli Marshall, Gina Smith, Luke Van Hine, Kay West ADVERTISING, ART & DESIGN MANAGER: Susan Hutchinson LEAD DESIGNER: Scott Southwick MEMBERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR: Laura Hackett MARKETING ASSOCIATES: Sara Brecht, Brian Palmieri, Tiffany Wagner OPERATIONS MANAGER: Able Allen INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES & WEB: Bowman Kelley BOOKKEEPER: Amie Fowler-Tanner ADMINISTRATION, BILLING, HR: Able Allen, Lauren Andrews DISTRIBUTION: Susan Hutchinson, Cindy Kunst DISTRIBUTION DRIVERS: Gary Alston, Russell Badger, Clyde Hipps, Joan Jordan, Angelo Sant Maria, Desiree Davis, Charlotte Rosen, Carl & Debbie Schweiger, David Weiss

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OPINION

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

CARTO ON BY R A ND Y MOL T O N

Animal-free diet also helps the planet [Regarding the “Get Involved” box in the article, “A Planet Apart: WNC Celebrates Socially Distant Earth Day,” April 22, Xpress]: As animal agriculture is one of the largest contributors of human-made greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation and water pollution, an animal-free diet would have been another at-home opportunity on Earth Day. To have done nothing was not a choice: Every time we eat, we make a choice to help or to harm. We make this choice several times a day, every day.

Factory farms are also a pandemic risk. “If you actually want to create global pandemics, then build factory farms,” said Michael Greger, the author of Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching. While scientists believe the novel coronavirus originated in wild bats, highly pathogenic strains of H5N1 bird flu are linked to poultry farms in China (“The Meat We Get From Factory Farms Is a Pandemic Risk, Too,” Vox).

The American Conservative agrees: “Packing thousands of druggedup animals in metal sheds, ignoring health concerns, makes perfect breeding grounds for pandemic” (“Multinational Meat Farms Could Be Making Us Sick”).

Legislation proposed by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) imposes a moratorium on the U.S.’s biggest factory farms and phases them out altogether by 2040.

In March, as the COVID-19 pandemic gained traction, the conservative magazine National Review carried a piece arguing that “if you reflect on this issue with an open mind, you’ll agree that ending factory farms is a good idea — even if Cory Booker thinks that it is.”

While we should support the legislation, we should adopt an animal-free diet now. COVID-19 did not stop the climate clock. [Vegan Outreach’s] 10 Weeks to Vegan [challenge] will send you a free email each week full of tips and resources to help you make the switch to eating vegan.

— Lynda Cozart Asheville

Time for a gas tax hike The North Carolina legislature should enact a temporary gas tax hike of 30 cents per gallon or more while the price of gas is low. This is needed now to make up for revenue shortfalls due to business closures and lower consumer demand. Income tax revenue is also down.

It would have the added bonus of helping out our air and climate, too.

— Kurt Schroeder Asheville

Protect democracy with voting reforms North Carolina has a long history of voter suppression. Recent attempts to implement a voter-registration law

were decisively struck down in 2016 by a federal appeals court, which said its provisions deliberately “target African-Americans with almost surgical precision” in an effort to depress black turnout at the polls. Another example in 2016 was the redistricting plan that was struck down by a [federal] district court, ruling the plan constituted illegal racial gerrymandering by populating two districts disproportionately with African-American voters.

Currently, counties accounting for half of North Carolina registered voters have cut back on hours and decreased the number of polling places.

In order to protect our democracy, we must address these issues and go even further to allocate $4 billion in federal funding for states and mandate the implementation of reforms nationwide like early voting, postage-paid vote-by-mail and online and same-day voter registration.

— Woody Eisenberg Asheville

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Celebrating

Vote with cannabis legalization in mind

rs Ye a

April 20 [was an] unofficial holiday within the stoner community, and I hope everyone who chose to celebrate enjoyed it! However, I also hope that you took time out of your day to reflect on the detrimental effects the criminalization of cannabis has had on generations of communities of color.

Black people are almost four times as likely to be arrested for cannabis use than white people, despite similar usage rates. The vast majority of these arrests are for possession.

Furthermore, states spend billions of dollars each policing these drugs.

The majority of Americans support the legalization of cannabis, as do an overwhelming majority of young people. As an organizer with NextGen North Carolina, I talk to young North Carolinians every day who want our elected officials to legalize cannabis.

We’re going to the polls in November with cannabis legalization in mind, and that’s why we’ll be voting Sen. Thom Tillis out of office.

Sen. Tillis is against cannabis legalization, and he has voted several times to maintain the criminalization of both recreational and medical cannabis.

While Tillis may accept a criminal justice system that disproportionately targets black Americans and wastes money doing so, voters do not — and we’ll make that clear in November.

— Max Wimer Weaverville

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OPINION

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

A COVID-19 general strike What if President Trump orders the country to go back to work after what he contends is the end of the virus crisis, but enough governors and/or people refuse to do so? Won’t the stock market renew the Corona Crash that began with the crisis?

Then won’t President Trump and Congress maybe be ready to negotiate with the states and workers to find out

under what conditions they’ll return to work?

For centuries, workers’ rights activists have tried to organize an effective general strike. These include the Roman Empire plebeians’ strikes as well as the efforts of the Wobblies of America, the Chartists of England and the May Day movements almost everywhere.

Due to the virus crisis, we already have a rough equivalent of a general strike. It’s a chance for workers to declare they will not go back to work

unless America, and then hopefully all the countries of the world, agree to something like the following: 1. Health care for everyone regardless of ability to pay.

2.

A Worker’s Bill of Rights, including: a. A guaranteed living wage. b. A 30-hour workweek. c. Increased safety regulations and decreased boredom. d. A guaranteed humane job. e. Option to join a union with no firing repercussions.

3. The end to Wall Street controlling whether the economy is in recession or progression; the end of all derivatives; other reforms that wrest most political power from Wall Street.

4. New corporate laws that require corporations, in exchange for limited liability, to first maximize good working conditions and wages and minimize damage to the ecology — before maximizing profits.

5. Total conversion of the economy to nonpolluting energy.

6. A national effort to end war and bring home all U.S. troops, to be replaced by U.N. troops, but only if it is obviously needed.

7. End to all sex, race, nationality, etc., discrimination.

8.

An Elizabeth Warren billionaire tax and a return to tax rates of the Eisenhower era.

9. Etc. Of course, this general strike will have to be supported by food-produc-

tion workers who could supply food for free until the strike is over, and rents and mortgages will have to be suspended until the goals are accomplished. To some extent, that is what’s already happening, in a far too limited way, with the congressional $2.2 trillion relief package, food stamp provisions and other state laws preventing foreclosures and other such acts that are obviously counterproductive during the ravaging of COVID-19.

Unsurprisingly, there are many local organizations trying to achieve the goals listed above. These include (listed in the above order): 1. HealthCare For All WNC 2.

Just Economics and the local AFL-CIO 3.

What’s left of the local Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Tulsi Gabbard campaigns 4. Asheville Socialists 5.

NC GreenPower, North Carolina Biotechnology Center 6.

Local Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), the United Nations Association of WNC, more 7.

WNC Citizens for an End to Institutional Bigotry, The Human Relations Commission of Asheville 8. Bernie, Elizabeth, Tulsi campaigns 9. Etc. Workers of the world, rise in virus crisis unity! You may have nothing to lose but your ventilators — and maybe a world of peaceful, humane, fulfilling work to gain.

— Bill Branyon Asheville

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HOLDING ON

Getting unemployment benefits another challenge for gig economy workers

THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED: Local keyboardist Lenny Pettinelli went from playing at least one gig a day before coronavirus to staying at home, distanced from his bandmates. “I miss playing live music so bad that I’m shaking right now,” says Pettinelli, who managed to navigate the new state process for unemployment benefits for self-employed workers. He’s also used that hard-won knowledge to help others. Photo by Cindy Kunst

BY MARK BARRETT markbarrett@charter.net Some self-employed area residents have found a new occupation after the coronavirus pandemic shut down their businesses: applying for unemployment benefits.

The job requires long hours on the telephone, internet or both, as well as the ability to deal with paperwork, bureaucracy and uncertainty about when or whether a check might arrive.

No previous experience is required.

“I have put in over 60 hours (applying for unemployment) for myself, and I’ve put in probably 15 to 20 hours helping other people through the process,” says Lenny Pettinelli, a keyboard player who has become an “unemployment whisperer” of sorts for local musicians.

People can apply with the N.C. Division of Employment Security online, but, “If you answer any one of these questions incorrectly … you have no choice but to call them,” Pettinelli says.

When Pettinelli did that, “Nine times out of 10, they say that the call volume is so exceptionally high and the hold

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queue is full and so they hang up on you. … It’s just very, very, very hard to get any kind of human assistance.”

Like most states, North Carolina was unprepared when unemployment claims skyrocketed as COVID-19 cases shut down large swaths of the state’s economy.

The state’s unemployment program had not previously covered people who are self-employed and had to wait for guidance from the federal government on how to implement the benefits funded by a COVID-19 relief bill that passed March 27. The state said it was not ready to accept applications for benefits from self-employed workers until April 24. The number of Division of Employment Security workers funded by an unemployment insurance tax on employers fell by 16.5% during the last half of last decade, DES chief financial officer Kevin Carlson told a legislative committee in February.

The program was not especially robust to begin with after cuts imposed in 2013 to repay a roughly $2.6 billion debt that the fund used to pay benefits owed the federal government at the time. In the third quarter of 2019, the average weekly benefit workers got

was $264, 41st among the states, and the average duration of benefits was 8.6 weeks, ranking North Carolina 49th, General Assembly staffers told the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Unemployment Insurance.

Despite more than tripling the number of workers handling claims, state officials have acknowledged that the Division of Employment Security has struggled to deal with the crush of applications. DES was getting about 370 claims a day in early March but has averaged more than 20,000 daily since March 15. About 464,000 of the 1.1 million people who have applied for unemployment benefits since then have received a payment, DES says.

Here’s how some local self-employed workers have navigated the unemployment benefits process and the larger challenge of making ends meet during the economic downturn: SARAH SPAGNUOLO The hairdresser from Barnardsville rents space to work in a salon near downtown Asheville. She applied for benefits after the salon shut down, and

her husband, a self-employed construction worker, also had to quit working.

The couple have three children.

Spagnuolo may have applied before the state was ready to accept her application, but now she says it won’t even take her calls. Whenever she has logged into her DES account over the past month, she is told she has four pending issues to be resolved. She says she has called “50 to 75 times and been (able) to talk to a human three of those times.”

During the application process, she was asked to send copies of her driver’s license and Social Security card.

“They never received it. That makes me wonder who has my supersecret personal information,” she said.

Spagnuolo and her husband cut out cable TV and other expenses, tapped savings, postponed payment on a car loan and received food stamps. She is selling some of her stock of hair coloring to clients to use at home, which helps now but will make it harder to restart her business later. Some clients who canceled appointments sent her checks for the amount they would have paid.

She misses her clients and says, “I love cutting hair. Trust me, I don’t want to be on unemployment.” But she has declined entreaties to work surreptitiously.

“I have clients offering to pay me double and triple to just come and

Larry Parker, spokesman for the N.C. Division of Employment Security, responded to questions from Mountain Xpress about unemployment claims.

“Handling the volume of calls and requests for assistance is a challenge, and we are continually assessing how we can improve our services.” More than 1,000 people from DES, a sister state agency and private call centers are answering calls. “We have added evening and weekend hours for our Customer Call Center line and dedicated Pandemic Unemployment Assistance line to provide more opportunities for people to seek assistance.

This week we are doing a soft launch of a chat function on our website as another option.”

ABOUT COMMON PROBLEMS IN FILING CLAIMS “Every claim is different, and eligibility is determined on the specifics of each claim. We encourage people to make sure that all of the information they provide is complete and accurate before they submit their claim. The DES website, des.nc.gov, is kept up to date with frequently asked questions and tips for individuals and employers.

We encourage people to check the website regularly to see if they can find answers to their questions online.”

WHAT IS THE TYPICAL TURNAROUND TIME FOR A CLAIM NOWADAYS? “If there are no issues with a claim, a person usually receives their

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first payment within 14 days of filing their claim.

“If there are issues with a claim, it can take longer for us to determine eligibility and issue payment. For instance, we may need to request and review additional information from a claimant or their last employer before we can determine if they are eligible for benefits.”

DES is getting claims for regular unemployment benefits, plus Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which goes to the self-employed, independent contractors and others not usually eligible.

To get PUA funds, “a person must first be found ineligible for (regular unemployment). So, an independent contractor will likely file claims for both programs. The programs have different requirements for eligibility that we have to verify, which may take more time.”

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WHY HAS THIS BEEN SUCH A CHALLENGE FOR DES? DES “has been there to help people who need unemployment assistance through many emergencies, recessions and disasters. The COVID-19 public health emergency has proven to be a unique challenge in that it has affected every corner of the state in a short period of time.

We have received historic numbers of claims.” X

soon u o y e Se awn l e h t on

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MAY 13-19, 2020

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N EWS put color on their hair,” she says. One said Spagnuolo could cut the hair of everyone in the house, but Spagnuolo responded that social distancing “is something we’re doing to benefit the community” and declined. She could lose her cosmetology license and be charged with a misdemeanor if she works while prohibited by executive orders from Gov. Roy Cooper.

LENNY PETTINELLI If James Brown hadn’t already claimed the title, Pettinelli would be a contender to be called the hardest-working man in show business.

He set a personal record last year by playing 344 gigs, some solo, some with Asheville-based band Empire Strikes Brass, and was on a pace to play still more in 2020.

He played keyboards at a local resort on Mondays, in a bar house band on Tuesdays, a restaurant on Wednesdays, a brewery on Thursdays and often doubled up on gigs on the weekend.

All of those gigs dried up over the span of just a few days in March. “I was freaked out. I was like, ‘Oh my God, what are we going to do?’ I’ve

got a young, nearly 3-year-old daughter. My wife and I bought a house in Candler in 2017.”

Pettinelli did get his jobless benefits recently, but his wife, a self-employed massage therapist, is still waiting. He says he is not mad at the state government over the hours he spent dealing with DES. “There’s just that learning curve, and completely changing a government system, that can’t be easy,” he says.

He also received help from a national fund set up by the Recording Academy to aid musicians, MusiCares, and did an online fundraiser for his birthday to return the favor. Pettinelli says he and his wife are OK financially for now, and he has enjoyed being home to put his daughter to bed at night, but he worries about the future.

Some venues may close, and crowds will be slow to return to those that do reopen, Pettinelli predicts.

“They can say it’s legal to gather and they can say it’s legal to open things back up, but people aren’t going to be comfortable going back out until we have ways to keep this thing at bay,” he says.

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WEDDING BELLS SILENT: Waynesville-based wedding photographer Victoria McFall lines up a shot at a past wedding. She says she has had to reschedule 12 weddings that had been planned for this spring. Photo by Kassidy Shelton, courtesy of Victoria Grace Photography VICTORIA MCFALL With weddings all but shut down, Waynesville-based wedding photographer Victoria McFall has sold landscape photos and gift cards for photo shoots and receives small payments for editing cellphone photos that people email her.

She hasn’t gotten any unemployment money. The state website typically times out or crashes when she gets online to apply.

McFall, a single mother of 6-year-old twin girls, says she has not been able to replace most of her income but has been able to pay her bills so far, thanks in part to an understanding landlord and a deferral of payments on her car loan.

Like Pettinelli, she worries about what will happen next. The crush of work and resulting revenue now and in the fall usually carry her and her business, Victoria Grace Photography, through the slow winter season.

To learn more Especially now, the best way to apply for unemployment or find information about benefits is to visit des.nc.gov online. If you have to call, the regular number is 1-888737-0259. People needing help with Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, the special program for the self-employed, may call 1-866-847-7209. X

Income from maternity and graduation photo shoots she might be doing now is lost forever, she says. Most couples are postponing weddings until later in the year or spring of 2021. That might not sound so bad at first, but it still represents some lost income, says McFall. There are only so many weddings she will be able to photograph next spring.

If COVID-19 worries prompt couples to postpone weddings now planned for the fall or to just get married at the courthouse, McFall says, “I’m really not sure how we’ll be able to sustain in winter.” X

Attorneys are standing by Several organizations are coordinating the WNC COVID Legal Hotline, through which area attorneys will offer free legal information and advice to Western North Carolina residents affected by the pandemic.

The hotline, 828-560-3700, will be open 8 a.m.-2 p.m. on Thursday, May 21. Lawyers will give advice about housing, bills or debt, unemployment benefits, health insurance, personal safety, stimulus checks and other matters. They will also take calls from small-business owners and nonprofit leaders. X

by Daniel Walton

dwalton@mountainx.com

ON THE MONEY Who will benefit from local COVID-19 business relief?

For many businesses in Western North Carolina, the coming of COVID19 represented what planners call an “unknown unknown,” a situation so outside of normal that it hadn’t been previously considered.

Now, more than two months into the statewide state of emergency declared by Gov. Roy Cooper, enterprises have largely shifted their thoughts to the “known unknown”: how revenues might be challenged by the recession unfolding from the coronavirus pandemic.

In Buncombe County, several efforts funded by public money have sprung up to help relieve some of this economic uncertainty. The One Buncombe Fund received $200,000 from the county and $100,000 from the city of Asheville, nearly a quarter of its roughly $1.3 million total. Two-thirds of that money is being used to offer low-interest loans of up to $10,000 to small businesses in need.

(The remaining third is dedicated to support unemployed residents.)

Meanwhile, the Buncombe County Tourism Jobs Recovery Fund will repurpose $5 million from the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority to provide grants of up to $50,000 for small businesses and nonprofits that “provide a direct visitor experience,” including restaurants, music venues and breweries. The money comes from the portion of occupancy tax revenues that had previously been reserved for community capital projects.

But those programs have introduced unknowns of their own for county taxpayers. Both the One Buncombe and TDA funds are being managed by Ashevillebased Mountain BizWorks, which as a nonprofit community development financial institution is not subject to the same open records requirements that public agencies must follow.

Because of this arrangement, officials with local governments and the tourism authority say they will play no direct role in determining what area businesses receive public dollars — and what businesses are denied aid that could keep them from bankruptcy. And in the case of the One Buncombe Fund, taxpayers won’t know which businesses wound up with their money at all.

She says that BCSF board members have set no additional policies for business loans beyond the employee limit and that all decisions regarding specific loans are made by Mountain BizWorks. “We wanted to ensure that the process would be relatively simple,” she says.

However, it is unclear how the BCSF can know with certainty that BizWorks is adhering to the employee limit in its loanmaking. According to county spokesperson Kassi Day, the lender is not required to provide a list of loan recipients to the BCSF board or any local governmental entity. “De-identified, aggregated details,” she says, are provided “on a regular basis to ensure that the funds are being used appropriately to meet community needs.”

According to the latest report from Mountain BizWorks, 47 business loans had been made as of May 7 for a total of $445,000. Over half of those loans had been awarded to businesses of five employees or fewer, and 34 had gone to firms owned by minorities or women.

But demand clearly exceeds the supply of funding: 210 businesses had applied as of May 7, meaning that fewer than a quarter of applicants had received support. And as a nonprofit, BizWorks is not required to hold open meetings or share

documentation outlining why specific loan decisions were made.

In response to an Xpress request for comment, Mountain BizWorks spokesperson Susan Osborne confirmed that the lender had not sent “identifiable client information” to either Buncombe County or Asheville. “Due to client confidentiality, we’re not able to share client information without their prior approval,” she said. “As we’re just the administrator of the fund, I would refer you back to the county and city government for additional information.”

Because those public bodies don’t have documents containing recipient information, they cannot be compelled to produce it through public record laws. “We have this sense that if it’s public money, we should be able to follow the yellow brick road,” says attorney Amanda Martin, general counsel for the N.C. Press Association. “But that is not always true.”

SOMETHING TO SEE HERE The situation bears some similarity to that of the Tourism Jobs Recovery

CONTINUES ON PAGE 12

LIGHTS OUT: The nonprofit N.C. Stage Company is among the “direct visitor experiences” eligible to receive up to $50,000 in grant money from the Buncombe County Tourism Jobs Recovery Fund. Photo by Thomas Calder DEVELOPMENT DETAILS? The county and city contributions to the One Buncombe Fund were both made as economic development incentives, a type of spending specifically defined in North Carolina law. In Buncombe County, those incentives have mostly been paid to individual businesses as a bonus for building the county’s workforce and tax base: Engine part manufacturer Linamar, for example, will receive $19 million in county incentives through 2024.

In those cases, however, incentive payments have been contingent on companies meeting economic goals, such as creating a certain number of jobs at a certain average wage. No such performance goals were established for the One Buncombe Fund; the only stipulation attached to the county and city money is that loans issued from the fund go to businesses with fewer than 50 employees.

Kit Cramer chairs the Buncombe County Service Foundation, a county-established nonprofit that serves as the fiduciary agent for the One Buncombe Fund.

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BUNCOMBE BEAT

N EWS Fund, which was established as part of the COVID-19 Recovery Act signed into law May 4 by Gov. Cooper. Although that fund’s $5 million in seed money comes from occupancy tax dollars managed by the TDA — a quasi-governmental agency that must comply with public records requests — it also will be administered by Mountain BizWorks.

Kathi Petersen, a spokesperson for the Explore Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau, says that the tourism authority will play no role in evaluating grant applications from local small businesses and nonprofits. As with the One Buncombe Fund, Mountain BizWorks will make all decisions in a process not subject to public records law.

The legislation creating the fund, Petersen notes, “provides for the TDA to contract the administration of the fund to an agency experienced in emergency management funding for grants to assist small businesses that have closed or been otherwise significantly affected due to the economic hardship from the COVID-19 epidemic with the costs of recommencing business activities.”

But in this case, the names of grant recipients and grant amounts will be made public. Noah Wilson, director of sector

development for Mountain BizWorks, says applicants will agree to share that information as part of the grant process, providing “a very clear element of consent right from the beginning of the program.”

Wilson says that while loan clients will occasionally agree to be profiled in a case study, there are “very different expectations and requirements of privacy” between loan and grant programs. “It is a common practice among grantors to announce their recipients, amounts and key metrics (i.e., jobs), and for grantees to have an expectation of public visibility as a result of being part of that program,” he explains. “It would be extraordinarily unusual (I’ve never heard of an example) for a lender to announce their loan recipients in the same way.”

Regardless of whether a business receives a loan or grant, Wilson continues, funding is critical for many to remain viable through COVID-19. “We know it’s going to take a lot of support in order for our small-business community to stay strong and weather the storm. We’re glad to do what we can and grateful for all the partners and collaborators and entrepreneurial thinkers who will make the larger success stories possible.” X

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Buncombe Republicans claim exclusion from COVID-19 process

SPEAKING OUT: Republican Commissioner Anthony Penland, second from left, raises concerns about his lack of inclusion in COVID-19 discussions at a May 5 meeting. Screen capture courtesy of Buncombe County

Republicans and Democrats on the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners again sparred over the county’s COVID-19 response at the board’s May 5 meeting. As they also had argued during an April 16 special meeting, Republicans Joe Belcher, Anthony Penland and Robert Pressley said they continued to be left out of key decisions about how to restrict business and social activity in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Vice Chair Pressley — who is also running to unseat Democrat Brownie Newman as the board’s chair in November — pointed to a May 3 email from Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, herself a Democrat, addressed to the commission’s four Democratic members and County Manager Avril Pinder. While he did not explain the subject of the message, he objected to being excluded from a discussion of business concerning the whole county.

“Inside of it, it said, ‘You can let the other three commissioners know,’” Pressley said. After Newman countered that he had promptly forwarded the message, Pressley responded, “Oh boy, I’m so glad! I know she’s got our email [addresses].”

In response to an Xpress request for comment, Manheimer forwarded the email, which concerned the distribution of federal COVID-19 relief funds to counties and cities. The mayor had omitted the county board’s three Republicans from the message’s address line. “I didn’t mean to leave anyone out and asked that it be forwarded to all commissioners,” Manheimer said.

Meanwhile, Penland said he was particularly concerned by the way the county had issued restrictions exceeding state guidance on businesses and

funerals. He acknowledged Newman’s authority as board chair to issue emergency orders unilaterally but said the commissioners should have had a chance to debate.

“Folks, 28 years I’ve coached sports, and I can take a defeat,” Penland said.

“What I can’t take is the citizens that I serve didn’t get to hear me say anything else about these orders, knowing that businesses are putting boards on their windows. They are not coming back.”

Newman responded that any commissioner could have requested a discussion of the orders at previous board meetings. He also defended the county’s stricter actions, saying they were necessary given Buncombe’s role as a tourism hot spot and regional economic hub.

“I think the additional protections we put here have been great. I think they have saved lives and will help bring this economy back,” Newman said. “I do not regret any of it.”

Following their debate, the commissioners did reach an agreement to lift the county’s restriction on funeral sizes, voting 5-2 to raise the limit on attendance from 10 to 50 people in line with state guidance. Opposing the move were Democrats Jasmine Beach-Ferrara and Amanda Edwards, both of whom said restrictions shouldn’t be lifted without input from Buncombe public health staff. (The two were also the only commissioners to wear face coverings at the meeting, attended in person by all board members and county staff.)

“The process that has worked very well from a public safety perspective in Buncombe County is giving public health experts and staff time to think and digest and come back with localized recommendations that make sense,” Beach-Ferrara explained.

— Daniel Walton X

BIZ BRIEFS

COVID CONVERSATIONS

by Xpress Staff | news@mountainx.com LOCALS ONLY IN BUNCOMBE LODGING FOR NOW At the end of last week, Buncombe County moved with the rest of the state into Phase 1 of a plan to relax stay-at-home restrictions. At a May 7 press conference, Board of Commissioners Chair Brownie Newman signed a revised local COVID19 emergency order that aligned the county with the strategy laid out by Gov. Roy Cooper — with the notable exception of tourism.

Cooper’s plan allows hotels and short-term rentals to operate under the same social distancing and hygiene requirements as other businesses. Buncombe, which had previously prohibited all leisure travel, is now limiting reservations to “staycations” for Western North Carolina residents with an 828 area code. Occupancy is restricted to 50%, and visitors who are not part of the same family or household cannot occupy adjacent rooms.

Those restrictions will remain in effect for the duration of the statewide Phase 1, which is currently set to expire at 5 p.m.

Friday, May 22. Fletcher Tove, the county’s public health preparedness director, said non-WNC residents could make reservations for dates beyond that point, with the understanding that Phase 1 restrictions may be extended if COVID-19 trends worsen.

ASHEVILLE CHAMBER RELEASES 2020 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA The Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce announced its 2020 legislative agenda, which it said had been guided by recent input from its members.

The new list of priorities focuses exclusively on mitigating the short- and longterm effects of COVID-

OPEN FOR STAYCATION: AC Hotel Asheville and other lodging facilities in Buncombe County may accept local guests only through the end of Phase 1 restrictions. Photo courtesy of McKibbon Hospitality 19 on the local business community.

As in past years, chamber staff will use the agenda to guide advocacy on behalf of the region’s economy at the local, state and federal levels of government. The new priorities include: • Ensure sufficient capacity and transparent, equitable distribution for COVID-19 testing and personal protection.

• Work with the federal government to increase funding and length of repayment periods for Economic Industry Disaster Loan and Paycheck Protection Program loans.

• Remediate and improve access to unemployment insurance benefits.

See the complete list at avl.mx/74o.

ASHEVILLE AMONG TOP 10 MIDSIZE U.S. METROS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES PER CAPITA An analysis of midsize metropolitan areas (population 350,000-999,999) performed by the website Construction Coverage found that Asheville has the country’s seventh-highest number of small businesses per capita. Portland, Maine, topped the list with 3.24 small businesses per 100 residents.

With 12,406 small businesses (those with fewer than 50 employees),

Asheville has 2.7 such enterprises for every 100 residents. About a quarter of those small businesses are in the retail, accommodation and food service sectors.

See the full report at avl.mx/74p.

Sheltering at home, it’s hard to envision what other members of our community are experiencing during this strange time.

Even if we could imagine the struggle of a parent trying to care for children while working from home or the isolation of a single older person or the anxieties swirling in the mind of a smallbusiness owner, hearing directly from our neighbors is always more interesting and powerful than anything we could invent.

And so we continue COVID Conversations, a series of short features based on interviews with members of our community during the coronavirus pandemic in Western North Carolina. For previous articles, visit mountainx.com If you or someone you know has a unique story you think should be featured in a future issue of Xpress, please let us know at news@mountainx.com.

No time to say goodbye High school seniors miss out on milestones

GOOD TO KNOW • Now in its second year, the Asheville Impact Micro Grant will seed five new startups with grants of $5,000 each.

Organized by Venture Asheville, the grant program received funding from 50 individuals, the HCA Healthcare Mission Fund, the First Horizon Bank Foundation and the N.C. Biotechnology Center. Applications are open through Sunday, May 17, at avl.mx/5tm.

• In celebration of its 10th anniversary, Kudzu Brands will donate two branding packages normally priced at $10,000, one to a business and another to a nonprofit organization. Full contest rules and instructions are available at avl.mx/74q; applications close at 11:59 p.m. Friday, May 15.

• United Federal Credit Union virtually celebrated the opening of its Hendersonville South branch on April 27. The branch is at 203 Greenville Highway at the Fresh Market Shopping Center. X

POMP AND CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCE: Buncombe County high school senior Eligh Ros is wrapping his mind around a very different graduation than he and his peers had imagined. Photo courtesy of Ros While students of all ages have faced social and learning challenges as a result of COVID-19 school closures, the situation is particularly poignant for high school seniors who are missing out on prom and other milestones as they prepare to head into an uncertain future.

Eligh Ros, a dual-enrollment 12th grader at Martin L. Nesbitt Jr. Discovery Academy, is on track to graduate as part of the class of 2020 with both a high school diploma and some college credit from A-B Tech. Early this spring, he was busy with classes and multiple club activities, his sights set on studying computer science or engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York in the fall when he suddenly found his life upended by Gov. Roy Cooper’s March 14 executive order to close schools.

“The saddest thing was that there was just so little warning,” he recalls. “It progressed so quickly. … There wasn’t a lot

of time, especially for seniors, to say goodbye. It was just such an instant thing.”

In addition to missing out on prom and other senior-year celebrations, Ros says he and many of his college-bound classmates have feared falling behind with their studies, particularly in math and science, due to the limitations of online instruction. And being isolated from peers and teachers has them struggling to stay focused on their goals.

“I think when you’re in your room, and all you have is just a computer with some due dates on it, it’s even harder to stay motivated,” he says. “I think that especially has affected a lot of people mentally as well as the thought of just not knowing what the future holds, whether we’ll be able to start college in the fall. That stuff just really has a heavy effect on people.”

MOUNTAINX.COM

— Gina Smith X MAY 13-19, 2020

13

COVID CONVERSATIONS

FEA T U RE S

Managing uncertainty Therapy in the time of COVID-19 These days, Carol Young Wood is often alone inside her office building.

Prior to COVID-19, the clinical social worker shared space at 239 S. South French Broad Ave. with six other colleagues and the group’s clients. Now, only about one in 10 of Young Wood’s regulars comes by for in-person sessions, while the rest happen online. Meanwhile, her fellow therapists have transitioned completely to virtual meetings.

Early on in the pandemic, Young Wood says she wrestled with the ethics of continuing to offer face-to-face sessions. But considering she only works with adults and is able to adhere to recommended social distancing practices inside the office, she agreed to meet with clients who preferred the traditional setup to online therapy.

No matter the arrangement, nearly all of her regulars bring up issues stemming from the current health crisis.

They’ve experienced anxiety over the Buncombe County stay-home mandate, a sense of loss due to social restrictions and a growing restlessness on account of their isolation.

Prior to the pandemic, Young Wood used her expertise to guide clients through specific traumas. Now, she’s in the same boat as many of those she counsels.

To deal with issues triggered by the current situation, Young Wood says, “The skills are really around mastering who we are in the face of uncertainty and how we learn to live with that. That’s very true for me personally, and it’s also what I bring in sessions.”

Gardening has helped Young Wood cope. She’s also embraced the fact

FIND YOUR ANCHOR: “We live in an uncertain world, and COVID-19 has just intensified and focused our attention on that in a big way,” says clinical social worker Carol Young Wood. One way to cope with the uncertainty, she notes, is to recognize the reliable relationships and practices we formed in our lives prior to the pandemic. Photo courtesy of Young Wood that there will be high-energy and low-energy days throughout the crisis.

“What I say to people and what I’m trying to follow myself is kind of going with what that energy looks like at any given time and not being hard on myself,” she explains.

Lastly, Young Wood recognizes the chance for self-reflection during COVID-19. “It’s certainly given me personally the opportunity to think about who I am in a crisis and how I practice being my best self, rather than falling apart around it.”

— Thomas Calder X

Uncovered Rep. Chuck McGrady notes political differences on face coverings Editor’s note: The following excerpt is from Rep. Chuck McGrady’s weekly email newsletter, used with permission.

This week [which ended May 2] will probably be remembered as a time when bipartisan squabbling was put aside. The House committees that drafted the bills had Republican and Democratic chairs, and they largely worked by consensus. The bills passed unanimously and quickly. While there were differences of opinion, lawmakers were willing to compromise.

The only obvious partisan trend related to the wearing of masks.

Republicans often didn’t wear them, and Democrats generally did. Of course, there were plenty of exceptions to that generalization, but I had to laugh when I heard a staffer quip that he never expected wearing or not wearing a mask would become a partisan fashion statement.

As for me, my constituents are probably not surprised to learn that I was sort of in the middle. I wore a mask during the two times I was on the floor to vote, and I voted a third time by proxy, which didn’t require me to go to the floor. On the other hand, while crafting the final bills — much of which was done by the full Appropriations Chairs, which are all Republicans — it was rare to see a mask even though we were in tight quarters. I tried to stick to the end of tables, allowing me increased space, but it was usually only staff that consistently showed up with masks for meetings.

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NO MASKS IN SIGHT: Rep. Chuck McGrady says many of his fellow Republican colleagues in the N.C. General Assembly have opted to forgo wearing face masks during in-person meetings. Photo courtesy of McGrady As already noted, the committee processes were all electronic. More importantly, no one other than legislators and staff were allowed in the legislative buildings, and legislators and staff had their temperatures taken prior to being allowed access to the buildings each morning.

It was strange not having the usual crush of lobbyists and constituents in the buildings or being stopped by reporters for a legislator’s perspective. Of course, the ReOpenNC group held a rally outside the legislative chambers, creating some difficulty in getting around — that made it feel just like normal. X

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In it together

Lady with a camera

Hispanic family tests positive for COVID-19

Local resident documents COVID-19

TAKING CARE: Lucy Ortiz, left, is quarantined at home in Henderson County with members of her family. Photo courtesy of Hola Carolina.

Editor’s note: This story was produced by Hola Carolina and is used with permission. The story can be viewed in at Spanish holacarolina.com.

No one ever plans on getting sick, says Lucy Ortiz, a mother of six in Henderson County. Four members of her family have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, including her 17-month-old son.

Although she is anxious about telling people her family is COVID19 positive and fears reprisal, Ortiz believes it’s vital to speak publicly about her situation to warn others of the dangers associated with the virus.

“It can happen to anybody. I don’t want people wondering what we did or didn’t do to acquire it. We were careful and we got it,” Ortiz says. Her family of nine is quarantining together; so far, her husband, 16-year-old daughter, 17-month-old son and father-in-law have tested positive and are in different phases of recovery.

Ortiz’s father-in-law was first in the family to be diagnosed with COVID-19 after experiencing fever, chills and body pain. He was hospitalized for 15 days before his release

last month. “He was receiving 20 liters of oxygen a day and now is getting 2 liters. He’s doing much better, but we are taking very small baby steps,” Ortiz says.

COVID-19 symptoms can vary between cases. Her toddler son developed a cough and a fever and is very fussy, Ortiz says, while her teenage daughter has no symptoms at all. Ortiz tried to get tested herself but was told to wait until she began showing symptoms.

Like many other mothers living paycheck to paycheck, Ortiz worries about how her family’s bills will be paid. “With my husband’s last paycheck, we paid part of April’s rent,” she says. “Now, the whole family is quarantined, and we have no income for May. Plus, the medical bills are starting to arrive.”

Ortiz hopes her story helps spread the message that the coronavirus is a very real danger for families like hers. “The cough is not fake. The fever is not fake. The reality of what is happening to my family is not fake.

It’s real,” she says. “Please keep our family in your prayers and don’t judge us.” X

IN FOCUS: “My interest has always been to document how people live,” says Nicora Gangi, left. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asheville resident regularly photographs busy grocery stores and fast-food drive-thrus. Photos courtesy of Gangi For 30 years, Nicora Gangi taught design at Syracuse University. But these days, the retired art professor describes herself as “just a lady with a camera.” Since relocating to Asheville in March — a week before the Buncombe County implemented its stay home, stay safe mandate — Gangi has been photographing a city transformed.

Though a new resident, the photographer is no stranger to the area.

Since the early 2000s, she’s regularly visited and exhibited her artwork in Asheville. Not surprisingly, her past experiences here were far different from her current situation. “To basically enter into the gates of silence was really shocking,” she says, discussing her recent move. “Doing the photography has helped me to remember that while the silence may still be here, there are also people still around.”

Over the previous two months, Gangi has captured empty downtown streets, the vacant Asheville Mall and fenced-off parks, along with busy grocery stores and fast-food drive-thrus.

Her images reveal masked employees and shoppers, as well as signs promoting safe social distancing practices.

Even as businesses gradually reopen, Gangi believes the pandemic will have a lasting impact on social norms, the same way 9/11 transformed air travel. “I don’t think we realize the extent of what [COVID-19] is going to do to us,” she says. “This is what continues to spur me on. I want to remind people that this wasn’t always the way it was, but this is how it began.”

To view samples of Gangi’s photography, see “Signs of the time: Local images related to COVID-19,” March 27, Xpress.

— Thomas Calder X

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SICK OF BEING SICK: In the winter of 1920, Asheville residents were faced once again with an influenza outbreak and temporary city shutdown. Photo courtesy of the North Carolina Collection, Pack Memorial Library, Asheville; photo doctored by Scott Southwick “A year ago influenza was raging [here],” The Asheville Citizen reminded its readers on Oct. 25, 1919. And while new cases of the virus were appearing outside the region, city residents were “practically immune from the disease,” the editorial claimed.

Despite Asheville’s clean bill of health and the paper’s wildly optimistic outlook, readers were still advised to remain vigilant. “The people should ... consistently and rigidly practice all those rules for health and freedom from infection that were learned last year,” the editorial continued.

For a period, the message appeared to work. But when six new cases emerged in late January, city officials stepped in. “While there is said to be no cause for alarm here, the city health officer thinks the people should not hold unnecessary meetings for awhile,” The Asheville Citizen reported on Jan. 25, 1920.

Five days later, on Jan. 30, the causal recommendation became an official declaration. That day, the paper reported 232 new cases within a 24-hour

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MAY 13-19, 2020

MOUNTAINX.COM

period. In response, the city ordered a shutdown, closing all schools, theaters and nonessential businesses — just as it had in 1918. Meanwhile, according to the resolution, all churches and religious institutions were “respectfully requested to suspend all gatherings of any kind[.]”

Most local churches obliged. In one case, reported by The Asheville Citizen on Feb. 1, 1920, the Rev. Anton VerHulst of Montreat went so far as to mail “a special sermon” to the members of his congregation to remain in compliance with the city’s request.

But a few religious leaders resisted the appeal. On Feb. 5, 1920, The Asheville Citizen wrote that the Rev. J.O. Ervin intended to hold a service that Sunday at Bethel Methodist Church. In a statement provided by the pastor, Ervin asserted that “the great business of encouraging and restocking of the inestimable treasures of faith, hope and love” could not be denied. Further, the pastor argued, “people who regularly attend the house of worship are, as a class, the

most sane, sanitary and saintly people of the community,” and thus “the safest aggregation of individuals with whom it is possible to mingle with.”

Not everyone was convinced. In a letter to the editor published on Feb. 6, 1920, former Bethel Methodist member George A. Shuford implored current congregants to “allow Bro. Ervin to hold his services all by himself[.]”

The paper’s editorial board also expressed its disapproval. “To say that religion and worship cease when the church closes is to deny the omnipresence of God,” it wrote on Feb. 12, 1920.

But in the same day’s paper, in a letter to the editor, Willis G. Clark, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, came to Ervin’s defense. Clark, like Ervin, was among the minority of religious leaders still holding sessions.

“This was not done in defiance of any law nor to be ‘contrary’ to any request of the health or civic authorities,” Clark wrote. “[B]ut to bear witness to the fact that God’s House must not be looked upon as a place of danger in the time of need of Divine Power[.]”

Church leaders were not alone in challenging the order. Early on, county teachers had also insisted that their schools remain open, pointing to the fact that rural areas experienced no new influenza cases. Though their initial protests failed, county schools did reopen on Feb. 14, three weeks before city schools welcomed back their students on March 3.

Most restrictions, however, were lifted on Feb. 29, 1920, following a steady decline in infection rates.

Weary of flare-ups, The Asheville Citizen implored residents to remain cautious in that day’s editorial: “A year ago more than one flareup of influenza occurred here, due, so far as science could determine, to unrestricted mingling of the people.

Caution and restraint may spare the city the trouble, sickness and death that may be expected to accompany such fresh outbreak of the epidemic.”

According to contemporaneous news reports, the city experienced more than 2,000 cases of influenza and 31 deaths over a five-week period starting Jan. 25, 1920.

Editor’s note: This is an ongoing series that examines the impact of the 1918 influenza. Previous articles can be read at the following links: avl.mx/73d, avl.mx/73e, avl.mx/73f, avl.mx/73g and avl.mx/74e. Spelling and punctuation are preserved from the original documents. X

COMMUNITY CALENDAR MAY 13 - 21, 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.

Dance for Kids, 12:30PM, Online, avl.mx/71v

MUSIC A CAPELLA SINGING (PD.) WANNA SING? ashevillebarbershop.com ONGOING Virtual LEAF Festival Weekend May 15-17, (live & pre-recordedperformances, crafts, healing arts). Schedule released at 10:00AM each day, visit vleaf.org for details.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13 • LEAF Global Arts: West African Drumming and Dance for Kids, 12:30PM, Online, avl.mx/71v • Isis Music Hall: An Evening with Joe Crookston: Livestream, 7:00PM, Online, avl.mx/74w FRIDAY, MAY 15 • LEAF Global Arts: West African Music, Culture, and Language for Adults, 12:30PM, Online, avl.mx/71v • Downtown After 5, presented by IAMAVL & Prestige Subaru, Livestream, 5:00PM, Online, avl.mx/74x • Formal Friday, a Fancy Online Comedy Show, 8:00PM, avl.mx/73a SATURDAY, MAY 16, • LaZoom: What’s Up Your Asheville? 5:00PM, Online, avl.mx/71s • The Black Mountain Experimental Film and Music Festival, 6:00PM, avl.mx/72g MONDAY, MAY 18 • A Month of Mondays Livestream Interviews w/ Earl Scruggs Music Festival & Guests, 8:00PM, Online, avl.mx/74d TUESDAY, MAY 19 • LEAF Global Arts: Percussion Class using Household Objects w/ Agustin Frederic 9:30AM, Online, avl.mx/71v • LEAF Global Arts: Interactive Rhythm and Drums at Home, 12:30PM, Online, avl.mx/71v

FRIDAY, MAY 22 • LEAF Global Arts: West African Music, Culture, and Language for Adults, 12:30PM, Online, avl.mx/71v • Shake Off the Blues Livestream Concert to Support The Center for Cultural Preservation Documentary Project, 7:30PM, Online, saveculture.org • Formal Friday, a Fancy Online Comedy Show, 8:00PM, Online avl.mx/73a

ART

ONGOING • Asheville Community Theatre Daily Happy Hour Stream, (submit videos for #ACTHappyHour and/or watch from 5:00-6:00PM daily) 5:00PM, avl.mx/710

FILM SATURDAY, MAY 16 • The Black Mountain Experimental Film and Music Festival, 6:00PM, Online, avl.mx/72g FRIDAY, MAY 22 • World Cinema w/ Flood Gallery 6:00PM, Online, avl.mx/72g SATURDAY, MAY 23 • The Black Mountain Experimental Film and Music Festival, 6:00PM, Online, avl.mx/72g

ART GALLERY EXHIBITIONS ONGOING • AVL Gallery of Art: Time to Create May Group Show, 12:00PM, Online, avl.mx/74v

ONGOING Virtual LEAF Festival Weekend May 15-17, (live & pre-recordedperformances, crafts, healing arts). Schedule released at 10:00AM each day, visit vleaf.org for details.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13 • LEAF Global Arts: Show Us Your LEAF! All-Ages Creative Show & Tell, 12:00PM, Online, avl.mx/71v FRIDAY, MAY 15 • Bearfootin' Art Walk Virtual Bear Reveal 6:00PM, Online, avl.mx/74c

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CLASSES, MEETINGS & EVENTS Empyrean Arts Online Live Classes (PD.) The physical studio is closed for now but we are offering some of our regular class offerings online - Go to our website at EMPYREANARTS. ORG, create a new student account, then purchase and sign up for classes.

ONGOING Virtual LEAF Festival Weekend May 15-17, (live & pre-recordedperformances, crafts, healing arts). Schedule released at 10:00AM each day, visit vleaf.org for details.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13 • Dream Cafe w/ Bernard Welt: Weekly Guided Dream-Sharing Hangout, 9:00AM, Online, avl.mx/74h • Western Women’s Business Center: Preparing for a Small Business Loan

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17

WELLNESS

MARKING A MILESTONE

HCA files first annual report since acquiring Mission

BY NEIL COTIAUX info@carolinapublicpress.org Originally published by Carolina Public Press (avl.mx/74l). Carolina Public Press is an independent, in-depth and investigative nonprofit news service for North Carolina.

HCA Healthcare has filed its first annual report on how it has complied with the promises it made when it acquired Mission Health system more than one year ago.

As part of its $1.5 billion deal to acquire nonprofit Mission, for-profit HCA agreed to assume a series of legally enforceable service obligations in an amended purchase agreement hammered out with N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein and Mission.

As part of its promises, HCA consented to put into writing an annual report detailing how it is living up to the obligations.

On May 1, Greg Lowe, president of HCA’s North Carolina Division, shared the Nashville, Tenn.-based health care giant’s summary of its first-year performance with four parties.

Lowe’s report is now in the hands of Stein, who demanded numerous yardsticks of accountability in the purchase agreement; Gibbins Advisors, the independent monitor that is serving as a third-party watchdog over HCA’s performance; ANC Healthcare, the sales entity that has been winding down nonprofit Mission’s affairs; and six advisory boards that inform decision-making at Mission’s hospitals.

In a 17-page report explaining how it has responded to its obligations through Dec. 31, 2019, HCA addresses agreements concerning physical facilities, the provision of enumerated services, charity care, an investment fund to assist regional businesses and a variety of community programs.

NEW BUILDINGS, EXISTING SERVICES Two cornerstones of the HCAMission deal involved the construction

NEW DIGS: The new Mission Hospital North Tower is one of several changes completed since Mission Health was acquired by HCA Healthcare over a year ago. Photo by Cindy Kunst of a replacement facility for Angel Medical Center in Franklin and of a 120-bed inpatient behavioral health facility in Asheville.

In its report, HCA says it approved a budget of $66.1 million for the new hospital in Franklin, acquired a site, is finalizing design work and expects to break ground by the end of 2020.

In Asheville, HCA says it expects to complete design and budget work on the behavioral health facility by year’s end and plans on developing 25 acres off Crayton Road near Interstate 40 and Sweeten Creek Road. No completion date for the project was provided, but HCA must do so within five years of obtaining permits.

Regarding the continuation of specified services at HCA facilities, the corporation states that it has “not discontinued the provision of the services” set forth in the amended pur-

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chase agreement for the period ending Dec. 31.

In a Feb. 25, 2020, letter to Lowe from Stein, the attorney general had raised concerns about the lack of a sexual assault nurse examiner, or SANE, at Angel Medical Center under Section 7.13(b) and Schedule 7.13(b) of the amended agreement as part of “emergency services” or “acute medical services” that “shall not” be discontinued.

In Lowe’s response of March 4, the division president referred not to SANE staff but to a forensic nursing program that existed at Mission prior to its being acquired. While Lowe’s letter said an FNP nurse may travel from Asheville to Franklin to treat a sexual assault victim or the victim could go to Asheville to see an FNP, it did not address such services being available on a standing basis at Angel.

“It wasn’t entirely clear to me whether a nurse moved from where it was to Mission headquarters in Asheville,” Stein said in a March 11 interview with Carolina Public Press.

But discussion of the sexual assault treatment issue, along with concerns about HCA’s new charity care policy, was then put on hold twice since

mid-March, in part due to the coronavirus pandemic.

CHARITY CARE Charity care emerged as a contentious issue during a Feb. 10 town hall meeting held by Gibbins Advisors, the independent monitor, when a delegation of area elected officials led by state Sen. Terry Van Duyn, D-Buncombe, criticized HCA’s plan for a lack of transparency.

Along with Stein, Van Duyn and other area officials have criticized the new policy for no longer allowing the preapproval of services, a practice that they said sometimes leads to financial hardships and bills being put out for collection. Stein has told HCA that its policy “appears inconsistent” with the purchase agreement.

In its just-filed annual report, Lowe says that HCA has, as required, maintained an uninsured and charity care policy throughout its first year of ownership. Lowe said the amount of financial assistance provided by HCA during the plan’s first year — measured in terms of discounts from gross patient charges — exceeded nonprofit

com, to help solicit interest from area businesses.

While HCA has operated an enterprisewide investment fund for years, the new Asheville-based fund is the only one in the HCA system that will serve a specific geographic region, a Mission Health spokesperson confirmed.

Mission’s assistance over the prior 12-month period by $108.6 million.

During its first year, HCA provided “approximately $252 million in charity care, uninsured discounts and other financial assistance,” according to previous statements by Lowe.

There is no indication when differences over how the policy is administered might be resolved.

COMMUNITY PROGRAMS, LOCAL BOARDS

NEW INVESTMENT FUND

Nearly half of HCA’s 17-page annual report consisted of itemized descriptions of community programs that the company engaged in during its first year of operating Mission.

Highlighted programs addressed issues such as cancer, alcohol exposure during pregnancy, child safety and diabetes.

HCA’s first-year report also provides the names of the members of Mission’s local hospital advisory boards that were required to be established under the purchase agreement.

Those boards, composed of four members chosen by nonprofit Mission and four chosen by HCA, would, among other things, be responsible for approving any discontinuance of one or more services at a local Mission hospital, but only in agreement with the independent monitor.

Existing services at rural hospitals may not be discontinued for 10 years starting Feb. 1, 2019, the amended purchase agreement states.

The agreement also stipulates that no hospital facility may be sold or closed before 2029. X

In a lesser-known obligation within HCA’s purchase agreement, Mission’s new parent company agreed to create an investment fund to help businesses in Western North Carolina develop products or techniques that will improve the quality, cost or efficiency of health care services in the region.

Called HCA Healthcare Mission Fund, Mission’s new owner will deploy $25 million to screen potential business opportunities that could take the form of direct investments, joint ventures or partnerships to build a sustainable investment pipeline and foster economic development.

The concepts that are funded must be a strategic fit for possible use in HCA’s activities, and any financial returns that are derived could be deployed in additional investments.

Initial investments will range from $500,000 to $5 million with the possibility of additional support. The innovation fund has launched a website, HCAHealthcareMissionFund.

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19

GREEN SCENE

PLANTING THE SEED

BY KAY WEST kwest@mountainx.com If, in this election year, “Okra 2020” sounds like a political slogan, it’s a good campaign to bet on. The agricultural, sustainability-driven initiative began last year when Slow Food Asheville adopted the oft-maligned vegetable for its annual Heritage Food Project.

Previous honorees have included Nancy Hall sweet potatoes, Cherokee Trail of Tears pole beans, Cherokee Purple tomatoes and North Georgia Candy Roaster squash, but this is the first time SFA has put okra on the pedestal. Charles Wise, an SFA board member and home gardener, says the decision arose from his own interest in what he calls “a truly elegant plant.”

Wise found himself inspired after attending author Chris Smith’s book signing for The Whole Okra: A Seed to Stem Celebration at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe last June. (Whole Okra

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Slow Food Asheville celebrates okra with Heritage Food Project

was announced earlier this month as a James Beard Foundation Book Award finalist in the Reference, History and Scholarship category.) “I invited him to collaborate with us, and he was very enthused,” Wise recalls. “We had ongoing conversations about okra varieties that would fit our Heritage Food model, which considers historical integrity to the Appalachian region.”

The okra ultimately selected for the 2020 project, Aunt Hettie’s Red, boasts both regional roots and modern acclaim. Last September, “The Single Biggest Chef-Centered Okra Tasting Day Ever” was staged by the Utopian Seed Project, of which Smith serves as executive director, with simultaneous contests in Asheville, Charlotte and Durham. Of the 54 okra varieties facing off that day in a series of elimination rounds, the last okra standing was Aunt Hettie’s Red. OKRA ON THE MOVE Okra 2020 was scheduled to kick off with a March 30 celebration at Archetype Brewing. But when restrictions on public gatherings due to COVID-19 canceled the event — and postponed tailgate markets, at which the SFA had planned to give out seed packets — organizers scrambled to implement other options. Arrangements are now in place for the project to have a presence at the River Arts District Farmers Market on Wednesday, May 13, and Wise urges people interested in future market dates to check his organization’s website and social media.

The coronavirus pandemic did not, however, disrupt the distribution of seeds to several local farms that had already been enlisted to grow substantial quantities of Aunt Hettie’s Red. Those partners include Patchwork Urban Farm in Asheville, Franny’s Farm in Leicester and Mighty Gnome Market Garden in Marshall.

Danielle Keeter, who has owned Mighty Gnome (formerly Stonecrop Garden) with partner Mark McDonagh since 2017, says Wise invited their farm to join the project after seeing their Burgundy Red and Clemson Spineless okra at Asheville City Market. “I love to grow okra,” Keeter enthuses. “They’re beautiful and hardy plants that grow tall and don’t require a lot of special care. They have a really big yield per plant and a long harvest, from about mid-July until the first frost.”

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FIELD OF DREAMS: Aunt Hettie’s Red okra plants grow tall and yield plenty.

Photo by Chris Smith The farmers received enough seeds for up to 200 plants in late April. The Mighty Gnome owners started theirs in trays in their new germination chamber, which they were able to purchase through a grant from the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, and plan to put the okra outside after the last frost passes, shortly after Mother’s Day. GROUNDED IN COMMUNITY Another route for Western North Carolina to experience Aunt Hettie’s Red is through the nonprofit Bountiful Cities and its Asheville Buncombe Community Garden Network. The project resonates both professionally and personally with Bountiful Cities outreach coordinator Cathy Cleary, who is also a cookbook author and farmer. “I love okra but I’ve not grown it because my husband hates it,” she says with a laugh. “This project means I have to grow it.”

Through the Okra 2020 project, SFA gave 30-seed packets for Bountiful Cities to share with about 40 community gardens. “The idea is to increase biodiversity by enabling people to grow things where seeds can easily be saved and used the next year,” says Cleary.

Interest is high, Cleary continues, particularly as more residents take up gardening in response to COVID-19.

“The response was unprecedented,” she says. “We had to move the pickup point to my front porch [in West Asheville], but people are coming from as far as Black Mountain to pick up these little packets of seed.”

In addition to the seeds, community gardeners receive an email with growing tips, a reminder to save some seeds for future planting and a promise to communicate through the growing season with further advice. In return, Bountiful Cities is asking gardeners to share photos of their gardens, as well as some of their harvest with communities experiencing food insecurity.

A new collaboration with the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project will also result in 500 packets of Aunt Hettie’s Red seeds going out in late May. ASAP’s Growing Minds Farm to School Program will send the seeds home with pre-K and elementary students in Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson and Transylvania counties for their families to plant.

Plans to provide Asheville restaurants with okra to use on their menus are currently on hold. But the vegetable enjoys a long season and a big yield, and Cleary is certain that no okra will go to waste. “Who knows?

Maybe we’ll pickle it and sell jars as a fundraiser,” she says. “The okra possibilities are unlimited.” X

FOOD

BREAKING THE CHAIN

ers. “It felt great to get them to folks who impacted our business through their restaurants and were in a terrible situation,” says Wendy Brugh.

Chop Shop is donating about 200 pounds of product a week to Cultura restaurant’s partnership with Food Connection to provide meals to the unemployed and others in need. “[Cultura chef] Eric Morris did not hesitate to call and ask what we could do to help,” says Jackson. “We are glad to be helping this community.” X

Local meat providers see increased consumer demand

BY KAY WEST kwest@mountainx.com “On March 1, I had 140 people signed up for our monthly meat CSA,” says Jennifer White, assistant manager and community-supported agriculture program coordinator at Hickory Nut Gap Farm. “Now [May 1] I’m at 345, and I’m going to have to cap it at 400 and start a waiting list.”

The monthly meat shares are sold in small (10-pound) and large (15-pound) sizes and currently must be picked up at the farm in Fairview. “We are selling at tailgate markets but not doing CSA pickups,” she says.

Hickory Nut Gap isn’t the only local meat provider seeing an uptick in business. Potential retail shortages of largescale commodity meats whose processing plants have been direly affected by COVID-19, a move to cooking at home in the wake of restaurant closures and increasing interest in shortening the supply chain from farm to table are spurring increased consumer interest in locally raised meats.

“Astronomical” is how Wendy Brugh, who co-owns Dry Ridge Farm in Mars Hill with her husband, Graham Brugh, describes the jump in retail demand for the pork and beef they sell at three weekly tailgate markets. “We were at 30% wholesale [to restaurants] and 70% retail, and we are now 100% wholesale through tailgates,” she explains. “Our egg sales were 70% restaurant and 30% retail. Revenue is about the same, but our customer base has shifted.”

Retail shops Foothills Meats and Chop Shop Butchery have had to significantly alter operations by closing their stores to customers and increasing online ordering, deliveries and curbside pickup to meet the demands of old and new customers. “We’ve actually gone back to our roots,” says Foothills owner Casey McKissick, who in 2002 began selling product from his and other local farms to Asheville restaurants and in tailgate markets.

Foothills began expanding to include its butcher shops and dine-in Butcher Bar restaurants in Black Mountain and West Asheville in 2013. “With our dining rooms closed, we had to pivot to retail,” he says. “But we started as a retail butcher shop and have also

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blackbearbbqavl.com SPECIAL DELIVERY: P.J. Jackson, co-owner of The Chop Shop Butchery, carries an order from his shop to a customer’s car. “We really miss conversations over the counter with our customers,” he says. Photo courtesy of Making It Creative always supplied our customers with a wide range of groceries, dairy products, breads and prepared foods in addition to meat, so we know how to do this.”

Foothills sources its beef from AH&W, a multigenerational family farm in Wilkes County, and all its pork comes from Colfax Creek Farm in Polk County. Its meat processor of 15 years is Mays Meats in Taylorsville. “We have been 100% transparent since day one about where we get our product, what we do in the processing and how we sell it,” says McKissack. Foothills now delivers six days a week and has added a third pickup location at Little Sprout Carryout on Sweeten Creek Road to its two stores.

P.J. Jackson, who owns The Chop Shop Butchery and Apple Brandy Beef in Wilkesboro with his wife, Sharon Jackson, and partner, Seth Church, says his business model has turned the supply chain into a ring. “All of our beef is pasture-raised on our farm 70 miles north of Asheville,” Jackson says.

“Our abattoir (slaughterhouse) that we purchased last year is three miles from

that. We have 12 employees there and a full-time USDA inspector and easily have the space to distance.”

Workstations at the butcher shop are at least 6 feet apart, he continues, and all employees wear masks and gloves.

“The way we operate, it is likely that the beef someone buys from us went by five people from the time it was born to the time it was butchered and handed to you.”

That beef, as well as pork, poultry and seafood that Jackson picks up from Abundance Seafood in Charleston, is now ordered online, wrapped, bagged and placed in customers’ cars by a masked and gloved employee — often Jackson himself. “We really miss conversations over the counter with our customers,” he says.

Some local providers are helping those in the food business who are struggling. As they were transitioning from wholesale to retail, Dry Ridge donated over 100 cases — 15 dozen eggs per case — first to MANNA FoodBank and then to a program giving food boxes to unemployed restaurant work-

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21

FOOD

by Kay West

kwest@mountainx.com

Ciao for now

Stay informed on

Chow Chow board postpones culinary festival to September 2021

Local Matters

CHOW DOWN: Guests sample food and beverages in the Pickled in the Park tasting tent at Chow Chow 2019. The festival is now slated to return in September 2021. Photo courtesy of Chow Chow

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On the last evening of the inaugural Chow Chow culinary festival last September, participants gathered at Salvage Station to celebrate the weekend’s inarguable success.

Graced with beautiful weather in Pack Square Park, 3,387 local and out-of-town guests took part in the event, visiting the dozens of tasting stations from local and national chefs; sampling from breweries, distilleries and wine bars; and participating in seminars, workshops, cooking demonstrations, and farm and manufacturer visits spotlighting the makers and producers of the region.

“The closing party was pure enjoyment for all of us who worked on

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it,” chef Katie Button, Chow Chow board of directors president, said the morning after.

The festival generated $135,952 in state and local taxes, $1,210,749 in direct spending and ultimately raised $53,000 for MANNA FoodBank.

Planning for Chow Chow 2020 started almost immediately; in November the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority approved a $100,000 contribution to the event (up from $75,000 in 2019) and, in January, the board of directors hired Rebecca Lynch as executive director and Shay Brown as festival director.

But in the wake of COVID-19, with restaurants closed and no timeline

yet in place for reopening, with makers and farmers struggling to adapt to market uncertainty and with an unknown potential for future restrictions and regulations regarding social gatherings, the Chow Chow board of directors came to the same conclusion as countless other festivals: Cancel and postpone until 2021.

“It was an extremely tough decision,” Button said in an April 30 press release. “We’re determined to be back better than ever next year, and we think Chow Chow will be a great way to celebrate our reopened doors.”

Chow Chow executive committee member Elizabeth Sims says the programming committee is kicking around ideas for the interim. “We’re discussing a series of dinners and creating an online Chow Chow channel with interviews and demos with chefs, farmer and makers to continue the conversation about our mission,” she says.

For updates, check social media and avl.mx/6gm. X

BEER SCOUT

by Edwin Arnaudin | earnaudin@mountainx.com

New and exciting

Breweries focus on R&D amid COVID-19 challenges

CREATIVE SPARK: Sideways Farm & Brewery co-owners Jon and Carrieann Schneider haven’t seen their brewing capacity change as a result of COVID-19 restrictions, but minus taproom interactions with their inspirational patrons, they feel less motivated and creative. Photo courtesy of Sideways Farm & Brewery With their taprooms closed and keg distribution accounts on hold, many Asheville-area breweries have made the necessary shift from draft to packaged products. Though sales aren’t quite what they were, new beverages continue to enter the market as local businesses strive to remain innovative.

Michael Craft, Asheville community and communications ambassador for New Belgium Brewing Co., says the company’s pilot brewery at its Fort Collins, Colo., location is churning out experimental creations as usual. Some minor adjustments had to be made to New Belgium’s production schedule with keg business “down to almost nothing,” says Craft. But packaging for grocery store accounts has increased and will receive another boost with the addition of a canning line at the Asheville brewery, which he anticipates will be operational by June.

Hi-Wire Brewing digital marketing assistant Shanda Crowe feels that research and development efforts are more important now than ever. Minus its usual taproom traffic, she notes, the brewery is “reliant on creating a buzz with each release” to help drive business to its online store.

“We’re hitting all of our release dates as planned but adjusting volume slightly and packaging primarily into cans,” Crowe says. “We’re actually increasing the number of releases coming out of our South Slope Specialty Program by a lot with various 750- and 375-milliliter bottles.”

At Highland Brewing Co., communications and community outreach specialist Eeva Redmond reports that its R&D program continues to move forward, having refocused its efforts on testing for new beer releases rather than creating a balanced tap list for the currently closed tasting room.

The brewery’s new year-round beer,

Rising Haze IPA, debuted via curbside pickup and in stores in late April.

And though a few on-premises releases have been rescheduled, she says, Highland is otherwise moving along with its 2020 release schedule.

After closing Oyster House Brewing Co. for three weeks, owner Billy Klingel has reopened his brewpub 4-8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays for to-go food and growlers. In pre-COVID operation, the brewery’s most creative A COV were typically cask VERofferings E !

N and E which R GEkeep CH Adon’t nitro brews, R well in growlers and therefore aren’t currently being made.

Instead, Klingel plans to brew batches of Amarillo Pillow IPA, Step Papa Pale Ale and Bob’s Your Uncle ESB in the near future. “It’s what [patrons] are buying, so no time for exploratory flavors yet,” he says.

Limited brewing continues at Zillicoah Beer Co., where co-owner Jeremy Chassner has experienced

a roughly 80% loss of revenue. A quickly established online store and drive-thru pickups of packaged beer noon-4 p.m. Thursday-Saturday keep product moving, as does direct shipping to a few states.

Zillicoah will also soon offer 12-ounce, bottle-conditioned lagers, beginning with its keller pils sometime in June and its helles after that.

Also on the way in the next few weeks are the first of six beers from its wild/sour cellar: a gose-inspired offering, brewed in collaboration with England’s Duration Brewing; and Mother Vine 2019, made with last year’s crop of scuppernong grapes.

At Sideways Farm & Brewery in Etowah, co-owner Carrieann Schneider says operations remain unchanged, thanks to pre-existing practices that haven’t been impacted

by COVID-19. She and her brewer husband, Jon Schneider, use smallbatch, locally roasted malts instead of relying on delayed or reduced shipments and have enough hops on hand to last a few months. They also use local honey for bottle conditioning, so they’re not dependent on carbon dioxide or crowlers — both of which are currently in short supply. The urge to craft imaginative brews, however, has proved somewhat elusive.

“Without our customers in the brewery, we are feeling less motivated and creative. Having both of us behind the bar allows us to educate and see guests’ reactions to every taste — what people are surprised by, what they love, what’s their reaction to an unusual ingredient,” Carrieann says. “We are inspired by our visitors, we allow our guests to have creative input into our beers, and we miss them.” X

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23

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

BLUNT TALK

Spaceman Jones launches ‘Smoke Break’ video podcast from quarantine

LIGHT IT UP: “I’d been looking at how to expand what I do, because I’m always bugged by ideas,” says Davaion “Spaceman Jones” Bristol, left, with Cliff B. Worsham, aka MOTHER HOOD, of RBTS WIN. Launching his “Smoke Break” podcast “gave me another outlet to express myself, to connect with people.” Photo by Erick Lottary

BY ALLI MARSHALL allimarshall@bellsouth.net It was fellow Asheville-based hiphop artist Larry Williams, aka Po’folk, who suggested to Davaion “Spaceman Jones” Bristol that he offer his audience more than music. Williams moonlights as a comedian, and his versatility inspired Bristol to develop “Smoke Break” — one-minute videos offering philosophical insights and vaporous exhalations — on his personal Instagram account.

“I tried it one day, and it worked.

People connected with it,” Bristol says.

“Everything in those ‘Smoke Breaks’ was something I was immediately going through … something I was struggling

with, trying to accomplish or needed to work on in my life.”

Though the episodes present like the chillest life coaching ever, “I’m talking to myself through the form of the video,” he says.

Bristol works as a cook — he previously parlayed another version of “Smoke Break” into a smoked-food pop-up — and is therefore stuck at home during quarantine. He’s also involved with the locally based hiphop/wrestling series Urban Combat Wrestling, which hasn’t been able to host an event since March 7.

“I’d been looking at how to expand what I do, because I’m always bugged by ideas,” he says. Launching “Smoke Break” as a video podcast “gave me

another outlet to express myself, to connect with people.”

This is Bristol’s first podcast, but he has radio experience, a similar form of broadcasting. Editing the video component of the “Smoke Break” shows has been a learning curve, he admits, “but it’s been making me want to do more with the medium.”

So far, the series — released on Mondays via Bristol’s YouTube channel — has included 40-50 minute chats with the likes of pro wrestler Dillon McQueen (they start with a breath meditation and discuss the therapeutic aspects of wrestling) and Asheville “village witch” Byron Ballard (they discuss tarot cards). The guests on the show “are all my friends,” Bristol says. “They’re people I’ve had great conversations with and people I’ve learned from.”

While Bristol plans to continue producing the podcast (he’s already locked in interviews for upcoming episodes) and hopes to grow the “Smoke Break” following, he’s also still hard at work creating music. For his recent birthday in late April, he released the track “$100 Blunts” through the Spaceman Jones and The Motherships’ Bandcamp page.

The project is a collaboration with Cliff B. Worsham, aka MOTHER HOOD, of RBTS WIN. “I want to continue to speak from my truest self,” Bristol says of his varied creative outlets. “I want to be precise with how I use my energy these days.”

Subscribe to the podcast at avl.mx/74k X

Get Ready Asheville!

The Blackbird is opening up soon for to-go’s so keep an eye out for more info! ====== 47 Biltmore Ave. Downtown Asheville ======

828.254.2502 or 828.423.0864 THEBLACKBIRDRESTURANT.COM

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MAY 13-19, 2020

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A&E

by Thomas Calder

tcalder@mountainx.com

Life after Vietnam Local author Marvin J. Wolf discusses his latest book

engagement in combat during a raid of Haiphong harbor.

Like the 47 other profiles featured in They Were Soldiers, the majority of Hebert’s chapter explores his post-Vietnam career. “I wanted to concentrate as much as possible on what these soldiers did after they got out of the Army,” Wolf explains. In Hebert’s case, he went on to become a spy for the CIA, working in the Soviet Union during the Cold War and later running counterterrorism operations in West Africa. He retired from the CIA in 2002.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, regular book-signing events have been put on hold, Wolf says. But, like many people during the current health crisis, he and Galloway have embraced online platforms and phone interviews as a way to promote their book’s message.

Because while Brokaw crowned the soldiers of World War II as the leading members of the Greatest Generation, Wolf contends those Vietnam veterans featured in They Were Soldiers are living proof that his cohort “is every bit as worthy of respect and admiration as the generations that preceded us.” X

BEYOND BATTLE: Local writer Marvin J. Wolf, left, recently co-authored They Were Soldiers: The Sacrifices and Contributions of Our Vietnam Veterans. The book is available now. Author photo by Don Ray Prior to moving to Asheville in 2016, author and Vietnam veteran Marvin J. Wolf read Tom Brokaw’s 1998 bestseller, The Greatest Generation, a cultural history about the Great Depression and World War II. Wolf enjoyed the book but took issue with the title Brokaw bestowed upon the American cohort born between 1901-27.

“It was the same men and women … of the Greatest Generation that sent me and almost 3 million of my brothers and sisters to Vietnam to fight a war they knew we had no chance of winning,” Wolf asserts. The defeat, controversies and generalizations about the U.S. presence in Vietnam, Wolf continues, has been a burden that his generation shoulders to this day.

“Most of the guys that I knew who came back from Vietnam had a very rough go,” Wolf says. “Unlike our fathers who served in World War II or in the Korean War, we were not welcomed back. … The common consensus was that we were a bunch of losers. That we had been traumatized by the war, and that we were drunks

and drug addicts, and that we beat our wives.”

Challenging these long-held assumptions, Wolf recently co-authored They Were Soldiers: The Sacrifices and Contributions of Our Vietnam Veterans with friend and former war correspondent Joseph L. Galloway. The book, which was released on May 12, features in-depth profiles based on interviews with 48 veterans, including filmmaker Oliver Stone (Platoon) and retired four-star Gen. Colin Powell.

However, Wolf notes, the majority of the individuals he spoke with for the project are far from household names.

“I spent months looking for Vietnam veterans who had unusual stories to tell,” he says.

Among those figures is Weaverville resident Mike Hebert. In 1972, he worked as a midshipman on the USS Newport News, which supplied gun support for U.S. Marines and South Vietnamese units. A member of the Navy Reserve, Hebert’s time on the cruiser was limited to the summer between his junior and senior years of college. Yet within that brief period, Hebert’s crew was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its MOUNTAINX.COM

MAY 13-19, 2020

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SMART BETS

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

Lyric and April B. & The Cool You know the drill: One Friday per summer month, Lexington Avenue is blocked off from Woodfin Street to the I-240 overpass, clearing the way for a big stage and plenty of space for music fans to take in a pair of free performances, beginning around 5 p.m. But with large gatherings not yet allowed and the 2020 Downtown After 5 concert series rapidly approaching, the shows are moving online. On Friday, May 15, following “all requirements from state and local officials in terms of gathering size, sanitizing/hand-washing practices and physical distancing,” the Asheville Downtown Association and IamAVL will livestream an all-local lineup to YouTube and Facebook from The Orange Peel stage. Funk rockers April B. & The Cool kick off the evening at 5:15 p.m., followed by an eclectic set of soul, R&B, funk and hiphop from the Lyric full band at 6:45 p.m. Performers have yet to be announced for the June 19 edition, though it will also be livestreamed. Depending on government guidelines, the July 17, Aug. 21 and Sept. 18 installments may need to be virtual as well. Free. iamavl.com. Photo of Leeda “Lyric” Jones, left, by Mike Berlin. Photo of April Bennett by Elliot Schwartz

ACT TV The Asheville Community Theatre stage remains quiet with the venue closed under stay home, stay safe restrictions, but its staff is making welcome noise with six creative video series, debuting new episodes each week on ACT’s YouTube channel. In “My ACT Memory” (Mondays at 11 a.m.), theater veterans share unusual moments from past productions; “ACT Reads: Storytime” (Tuesdays at 11 a.m.) features actors narrating children’s books, complete with crisp shots of illustrations; “Living Room Cabaret” (Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.) finds Jerry Crouch, frequent director of ACT musicals, recruiting talented local singers for such programs as “Songs from the Rodgers & Hammerstein Songbook”; education director Amanda Klinikowski hosts “Backstage Pass” (Thursdays at 11 a.m.), exploring topics including basic stage directions and types of theater spaces; in “Face With a Name” (Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.), development director Kelly Shanafelt interviews ACT employees primarily known for their behind-the-scenes work; and over on “ACT Reads: A Chapter at a Time” (Fridays at 11 a.m.), actor John Hall is currently making his way through Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson’s Peter and the Starcatchers. Free. avl.mx/74n. Photo of Nana Hosmer Griffin in “Living Room Cabaret” courtesy of Asheville Community Theatre 26

MAY 13-19, 2020

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MOVIE REVIEWS THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTORS

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

BRUCE STEELE bcsteele@gmail.com

= MAX RATING

HHHHS

DIRECTOR: Justin Pemberton PLAYERS: Thomas Piketty, Kate Williams DOCUMENTARY NOT RATED Informative and possibly transformative, the documentary Capital in the Twenty-First Century offers a stunning history lesson of the past 200-plus years.

Focusing on the turbulent 20th century, director Justin Pemberton makes a convincing case that capital has been civilization’s driving force over that stretch, and that greed and improper taxation have been at the root of humanity’s major global problems.

Based on the bestseller by French economist Thomas Piketty — a frequent talking head here, along with other well-spoken experts in his field — the film makes succinct, straightforward points with help from stunning, original footage of wealth and poverty that suggest Pemberton would be a great candidate to helm a fourth Qatsi chapter.

Immune to dullness, Capital in the Twenty-First Century is thoroughly entertaining in its combination of quick edits, colorful graphics and inspired musical selections, but really shines in its charming use of clips from A Tale of Two Cities (1935), Pride and Prejudice (2005) and Les Misérables (2012) to depict historical income and class disparities.

Equally powerful are poignant scenes from lesser-known films that dramatize British colonial violence, plus Michael Douglas’ famously misunderstood “Greed is good” speech from Wall Street (1987) and various shots from Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium (2013), whose despictions of a desolate Earth for the masses and an Edenic orbiting space station for the ultrarich feel less like sci-fi with each passing day.

No mere chronicle of the past, Capital in the Twenty-First Century also looks to the future, spurred by troubling patterns that are beginning to repeat themselves, as well as new issues, including baby boomers’ children being worse off than their parents.

Brutally tough on the obscenely wealthy and on corporations that evade taxes to boost profits without benefiting the communities in which their products are made, the filmmakers aim to reverse these and other destructive trends, and in the process raise a sobering call to action before it’s too late.

REVIEWED BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN EARNAUDIN@MOUNTAINX.COM

A White, White Day HHHS

DIRECTOR: Hlynur Palmason PLAYERS: Ingvar Sigurdsson, Ída

James Rosario

AVAILABLE VIA FINEARTSTHEATRE.COM (FA) GRAILMOVIEHOUSE.COM (GM)

Mekkín Hlynsdóttir FOREIGN FILM/DRAMA NOT RATED

Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Kristina Guckenberger

A White, White Day opens with one long, sinister shot of a car traveling down a slick, almost invisible road as it winds along a foggy Icelandic coastline.

We helplessly watch as the car abruptly crashes into the guardrail and tumbles into the looming white void below. It’s a jarring start to a largely still film, but it’s one I won’t soon forget.

Icelandic director Hlynur Pálmason’s film grapples with loss and its complicated aftermath and tacitly explores the hazy line between the grief and anger of those who are left behind.

Ingvar Sigurdsson (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald) stars as Ingimundur, an off-duty small-town policeman who’s a devoted grandfather, skilled handyman and, most importantly, a recent widower. He spends most of his days going between the police station to eat lunch with his co-workers, caring for his granddaughter and building a house for his family. Even with his days so routinely scheduled, viewers get the immediate sense that Ingimundur is dealing (or not dealing, as he stubbornly demonstrates) with something heavy just below the surface.

Ingimundur is reliable and self-assured, and he’s not afraid to face anyone and anything — except his actual feelings. He’s unwilling (as we see in his uncomfortably tense and tightlipped encounters with his therapist) and unable to unpack his emotional pain, and it’s this inability to move forward that drives nearly every action he takes. It appears as though he hasn’t allowed himself to acknowledge, much less deal with his wife’s tragic passing, and when his adult daughter brings over a box of her mother’s things, he has no choice but to tackle his fears headon. It becomes clear that he is plagued by the nagging feeling that his wife was hiding something from him before her death, and as he begins to investigate, his deepest fear is realized: She was having an affair at the time of her death.

What follows is a series of distressing, wrath-fueled confrontations that dictate the final third of the film in a way that feels both startling and cathartic.

Without spoiling anything, Ingimundur experiences a traumatic event at the end that might actually be just the thing to snap him out of his heavy emotional

Alice (NR) A mother becomes a high-end prostitute to support her family.

Available starting May 15 (FA) Beanpole (R) HHHS(FA) Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint (NR) HHHS (FA) The Booksellers (NR) HHHS(FA) Capital in the Twenty-First Century (NR) HHHHS (Pick of the Week) (GM) Cézanne: Portraits of a Life (NR) HHHH (FA) Deerskin (NR) HHHH (GM) Fantastic Fungi (NR) HHHH (FA) Fourteen (NR) A mentally ill woman’s decline over the course of a decade, as seen through her longtime best friend’s eyes. Available starting May 15 (FA) The Hottest August (NR) H (FA, GM) Mossville: When Great Trees Fall (NR) HHHHS (GM) New York International Children’s Film Festival: Kid Flicks One (NR) HHHS (GM) New York International Children’s Film Festival: Kid Flicks Two (NR) HHHH (GM) Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band (R) HHHH (FA) Pahokee (NR) HHHHS(FA) Slay the Dragon (PG-13) HHHH (FA) Someone, Somewhere (NR) HHHH (FA) Sorry We Missed You (NR) HHHHS(FA) Spaceship Earth (NR) HHHS (FA) The Times of Bill Cunningham (NR) HHHHS (FA) Up from the Streets — New Orleans: The City of Music (NR) HHHH (GM) Vitalina Varela (NR) HHHHS (FA) The Whistlers (NR) HHHH (FA) A White, White Day (NR) HHHS (GM) The Woman Who Loves Giraffes (NR) HHHHH (FA)

fog. The final shot is as beautiful and provides sense of release for the viewers alike.

Read the full review com/movies/reviews

moving as it is an enveloping characters and at mountainx.

REVIEWED BY KRISTINA GUCKENBERGER KRISTINA.GUCKENBERGER@GMAIL.COM

Capone HHHS DIRECTOR: Josh Trank PLAYERS: Tom Hardy,

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M OVIE RE V I EW S

KIDS REVIEW

New York International Children’s Film Festival: Kid Flicks Two HHHH SHORT FILMS NOT RATED, RECOMMENDED FOR AGES 8+

Linda Cardellini, Kyle MacLachlan BIOPIC/DRAMA RATED R.

Lucas McKee

“Mogu & Perol” (9 min.) HHH

Mogu loves to cook, and Perol wants to eat. Perol’s eyes turn solid white when he is hungry, which makes this short a little creepy.

“Hors Piste” (6 min.) HHHHH

This hilarious film is about two guys trying to rescue a skier on top of a mountain. In the first few seconds, they knock their helicopter off the mountain, and it explodes. The poor skier wishes these two never “rescued” him by the end.

“Jesszilla” (7 min.) HHHH

Jesszella is a documentary about a 10-year-old girl who is a boxer. She is really good and made me want to get my own boxing gloves.

“Catmos” (5 min.) HHHHS

“Catmos” is an interesting black-and-white cartoon about a black-and-white cat. The way the drawings shifted into one another was really cool to watch.

“Saturday’s Apartment” (7 min.) HHHH

This interesting short features several animals that live in a high-rise apartment. They bother one another by making a ton of noise from things like hanging pictures, bouncing on a trampoline, knocking canes on the ceiling and more.

“Slow Dance” (6 min.) HHH

A boy is nervous about asking someone to dance. This one seems like it is for middle schoolers.

“Running Lights” (11 min.) HHS

This movie is one of the strangest in this collection. A fallen-out tooth turns neon and grows legs, and there is a creature that looks like a bunny and hops like a frog.

“A Field Guide to Being a 12-Year-Old Girl” (20 min.) HHHH

This was a really funny one to watch. I enjoyed it, even though it was longer than the other shorts, because the girls had such interesting and humorous things to say.

For Lucas’ take on the NYICFF Kid Flicks One program, recommended for ages 3-7, visit mountainx.com/movies/reviews REVIEWED BY LUCAS MCKEE

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The myth of Al Capone runs deep in the American psyche. Films like The Untouchables (1987) and, by extension, Scarface (1983) — not to mention countless Depression-era gangster pictures — have painted the famous mobster or his stand-ins as equal parts ruthless psychopaths and Robin Hood folk heroes. Without fail, these films end in either a rampaging shootout or a jail sentence (the charges often vary), but they leave out a key part of the real Capone’s life — its ending.

In detailing Capone’s final year, director Josh Trank (Chronicle; Fantastic Four) attempts to shed light on this untold and often undignified portion of a storied life — one filled with dementia-fueled paranoia and hallucinatory freakouts — with a flair that works more than it doesn’t.

In this sometimes grating but frequently entertaining look at where myths go to die, Capone manages a surprising amount of depth and substance despite the intentional unlikability of its main character and some lackluster story development.

The first thing you’ll notice is Tom Hardy’s makeup. With a debatable level of success, gaudy amounts of latex, false teeth and contact lenses were necessary to age the English actor to the appropriate levels of grotesqueness. An accomplished performer, Hardy’s mannerisms, gait and voice are all proportioned nicely to the task, adding to the already high levels of discomfort his appearance elicits. It’s unsettling, which I imagine is the point, but it borders on distracting, which is not.

The talented supporting players (including Linda Cardellini, Matt Dillon and Kyle MacLachlan) serve as anchors amidst Capone’s dementia and are welcome foils to the surly, spewing former gangster. Ultimately, though, this is Capone’s story — which gets messy in more ways than one. Problems in pacing and structure plague Capone as it never ultimately develops into a fully formed thought. It tries to be too many things at once and never settles into a comfortable rhythm. Each of these aspects has its merits (and I’d have been happy to follow any of the threads if they’d only been made more available), but the disparities among them are sometimes too much to reconcile.

However, Capone is worthwhile for what it does achieve. The examination of a semi-guilty mind through Kubrick-, Lynch- or even Gondry-styled hallucinatory half-memory/half-dream is impressive, while the conspiracy/mystery angle works well, too — even if I’d like to see it explored more thoroughly. Though in all honesty, the gnarled and monstrous appearance of Hardy in his Al Capone

mask will likely turn off more viewers than any plot or story shortcomings.

Available to rent via iTunes, Amazon and other streaming platforms REVIEWED BY JAMES ROSARIO JAMESROSARIO1977@GMAIL.COM

Cézanne: Portraits of a Life HHHH DIRECTOR: Phil Grabsky PLAYERS: Brian Cox DOCUMENTARY NOT RATED Known primarily as a painter of still lifes and landscapes, Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) also created a remarkable number of portraits. These works provide the gateway to his life and art in this documentary based on the first portrait-focused Cézanne retrospective, held at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 2017.

The painter’s life offers little drama, leaving director Phil Grabsky with just Cézanne’s occasional money problems and one illegitimate son out of which to weave a narrative. He’s aided by Cézanne’s letters to childhood friend Emile Zola and other acquaintances, read with feeling by actor Brian Cox (HBO’s “Succession”). But the great passions they reveal are chiefly about his art, appropriately enough.

Perhaps the most important figure to bridge the Impressionists, who came before him, with the 20th century modernists (such as Picasso, whom he inspired), Cézanne was nevertheless a rather open book artistically — it’s all right there on the canvas, the distinctive brush strokes, slightly off-kilter compositions and juxtaposed curls of color.

The experts here do their best to explain how and why this seemingly simple style works so magically, but the paintings themselves speak the loudest.

Of course, the whole point of the Exhibition on Screen series is to highlight each featured artist’s works and to give those of us unable to attend the actual shows long, close looks at the paintings.

Combined with the biographical commentary, correspondence in voiceover, historic photos and lovely cinematography of the places Cézanne lived and worked — Aix-en-Provence and Paris — Portraits of a Life is a complete package for art lovers. The cost of streaming the film is just a fraction of what admission to the exhibition would have cost, and you can sit home and sip wine and even eat a pear or two while browsing, without any museum guards to stop you.

REVIEWED BY BRUCE STEELE BCSTEELE@GMAIL.COM

Up from the Streets — New Orleans: The City of Music HHHH DIRECTOR: Michael Murphy PLAYERS: Terence Blanchard, Wynton Marsalis, Aaron Neville DOCUMENTARY NOT RATED If you don’t already believe that New Orleans is the most important city in the history of American music, this new documentary may convince you with just the density of the information it packs into 105 minutes.

Yet it also has the wisdom to pause rather often to let some great jazz performances unfold — by Aaron Neville, Mahalia Jackson, Professor Longhair, Fats Domino and others — both archival and new ones beautifully staged for the film.

Clearly a passion project for director Michael Murphy, Up from the Streets asserts the primacy of New Orleans as the melting pot chiefly responsible for the development of jazz from a combination of Cuban, African, spiritual and other influences. It’s also a roll call of the wellknown and lesser-known geniuses along the way — so many that even jazz aficionados are likely to learn a lot.

Hosted by trumpeter Terence Blanchard, the documentary keeps its focus chiefly on the African American experience and on black artists, but as if to win the attention of boomer viewers, Murphy also has interviews with Robert Plant, Bonnie Raitt, Keith Richards and Sting, to name-check a few. On the other hand, don’t expect much acknowledgment of New Orleans legends Al Hirt and Pete Fountain, dismissed here in about 30 seconds with evident distaste for their popularity with unsophisticated tourists.

The lack of any attempt to explain the geography of New Orleans — or where any historic building or park is relative to anything else — is a recurring frustration, and the haltingly chronological structure is something of a jumble. Still, the film never ceases to be revelatory and fascinating. Its flaws are the result of an ardent filmmaker who perhaps knows and loves just a little too much. Fortunately, that enthusiasm is communicated in the film’s upbeat and always engrossing tone, and viewers will be smiling and tapping their feet more often than not.

REVIEWED BY BRUCE STEELE BCSTEELE@GMAIL.COM

“Why are they publishing this Crier rubbish?” you may be asking. We certainly are. The rest of this edition of Mountain Xpress can’t help but show the tough times WNC is facing. Here’s one little spot in the paper where we offer a bit of levity, to possibly brighten someone’s day, poking a bit of fun at the outrageousness of it all.

SAFETY FIRST (... OR AT LEAST THIRD) Itching to get back outside so badly that you’ve developed a rash? Looking to shed the “COVID-19” that’s accumulated around your midsection since quarantine began? As public spaces slowly reopen, area Parks and Recreation departments are working together to develop safe exercise practices to keep residents fit and functioning during these unprecedented times: • The increase in bicycle activity on Asheville’s roads has led to the passage of a long-tabled law. Under the Edsel Act, cyclists must swear a magical blood oath to follow the rules of the road — just as any car would do — on streets with no bike lanes. Should they weave in and out of stopped traffic on their way to the front of the line, use sidewalks at will, disregard traffic lights or otherwise act the fool, the pedalling perpetrator will be transformed into the failed vehicle of their choosing for the remainder of existence. At press time, the Chrysler PT Cruiser was the most popular option.

• Once confined to the nursery set, the “walking rope” is now catching on among groups of friends. With each member of the party holding onto a socially-distanced handle, gaggles of gal pals or bunches of bros can stroll together while easily maintaining a consistent and noninfectious spacing. Just remember: no arguing over who gets to be the line leader!

• If you encounter another hiker on WNC’s plentiful trails, treat him or her as you would a black bear: raise your arms, stand your ground and project loud noises. The first hiker to behave in this manner may continue on the path, while the slower responder must emit their best confused ursine bellow and retreat to the woods. Once the winning hiker is out of sight, the trek may resume.

• Golf: played the normal way. Apparently it’s safe at any time, if the continued operation of local courses throughout the crisis is any indicator.

KNOW YOUR MEDICALLY APPROVED MASKS

0%

The Batman

Actually the opposite of helpful.

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

98%

11%

The Jason

Hole-y enough for church, won’t stop your germs or anyone else’s.

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

101%

55%

75%

The Western

The Ghostface

It’ll keep the dust out and some germs in.

Beats the heck out of nothin’, pardner.

Suspect visibility and ventilation, killer spittle protection.

Photo courtesy of Dimension Films

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Television

900%

9000%

The Doctor

The gold standard for simple germ protection, the surgical mask is a classic choice. Maybe just leave some for the actual medical professionals?

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Television

The Total Cover

101% Offers good visibility and a total barrier against connection with humans.

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

The Astronaut

As long as you don’t get hit by space debris and have to patch it with duct tape, you’re A-OK. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

The Deep Sea Diver

Take a deep breath of that liquid oxygen. Here in the deep dark, you are finally safe from that pesky virus, but don’t look behind you.

MOUNTAINX.COM

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

MAY 13-19, 2020

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FREEWILL ASTROLOGY ARIES (March 21-April 19): During a pandemic, is it possible to spread the news about your talents and offerings? Yes! That’s why I suggest you make sure that everyone who should know about you does indeed know about you. To mobilize your efforts and stimulate your imagination, I came up with colorful titles for you to use to describe yourself on your résumé or in promotional materials or during conversations with potential helpers. 1. Fire-Maker 2. Seed-Sower 3. Brisk Instigator 4. Hope Fiend 5.

Gap Leaper 6. Fertility Aficionado 7. Gleam Finder 8.

Launch Catalyst 9. Chief Improviser 10. Change Artist TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Of all the signs, Tauruses are among the least likely to be egomaniacs. Most of you aren’t inclined to indulge in fits of braggadocio or outbreaks of narcissism. (I just heard one of my favorite virtuoso Taurus singers say she wasn’t a very good singer!) That’s why one of my secret agendas is to tell you how gorgeous you are, to nudge you to cultivate the confidence and pride you deserve to have. Are you ready to leap to a higher octave of self-love? I think so. In the coming weeks, please use Taurus artist Salvador Dali’s boast as your motto: “There comes a moment in every person’s life when they realize they adore me.”

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): When I was young, I had a fun-filled fling with a smart Gemini woman who years later became a highly praised author and the authorized biographer of a Nobel Prize-winning writer. Do I regret our break-up?

Am I sorry I never got to enjoy her remarkable success up close? No. As amazing as she was and is, we wouldn’t have been right for each other long-term. I am content with the brief magic we created together and have always kept her in my fond thoughts with gratitude and the wish for her to thrive. Now I invite you to do something comparable to what I just did, Gemini: Make peace with your past. Send blessings to the people who helped make you who you are. Celebrate what has actually happened in your life and graduate forever from what might have happened but didn’t.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): “You have two ways to live your life, from memory or from inspiration,” writes teacher Joe Vitale. Many of you Cancerians favor memory over inspiration to provide their primary motivation. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, although it can be a problem if you become so obsessed with memory that you distract yourself from creating new developments in your life story.

But in accordance with astrological potentials and the exigencies of our Global Healing Crisis, I urge you, in the coming weeks, to mobilize yourself through a balance of memory and inspiration. I suspect you’ll be getting rich opportunities to both rework the past and dream up a future full of interesting novelty. In fact, those two imperatives will serve each other well.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Author Anne Lamott has some crucial advice for you to heed in the coming weeks. “Even when we’re most sure that love can’t conquer all,” she says, “it seems to anyway. It goes down into the rat hole with us, in the guise of our friends, and there it swells and comforts. It gives us second winds, third winds, hundredth winds.” I hope you’ll wield this truth as your secret magic in the coming weeks, Leo. Regard love not just as a sweet emotion that makes you feel good, but as a superpower that can accomplish practical miracles.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Theologian St. Catherine of Siena observed, “To a brave person, good and bad luck are like her left and right hand. She uses both.” The funny thing is, Virgo, that in the past you have sometimes been more adept and proactive in using your bad luck and less skillful at capitalizing on your good luck. But from what I can tell, this curious problem has been diminishing for you in 2020 — and will continue to do so. I expect that in the coming weeks, you will welcome and harness your good luck with brisk artistry.

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MAY 13-19, 2020

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “I’m curious about everything, except what people have to say about me,” says actor Sarah Jessica Parker. I think that’s an excellent strategy for you to adopt in the coming weeks. On the one hand, the whole world will be exceptionally interesting, and your ability to learn valuable lessons and acquire useful information will be at peak. On the other hand, one of the keys to getting the most out of the wealth of catalytic influences will be to cultivate nonchalance about people’s opinions of you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): On the kids’ TV show “Sesame Street,” there’s a muppet character named Count von Count. He’s a friendly vampire who loves to count things. He is 6,523,730 years old, and his favorite number is 34,969 — the square of 187. The Count was “born” on Nov. 13, 1972, when he made his first appearance on the show, which means he’s a Scorpio. I propose we make him your patron saint for the next four weeks. It’s an excellent time to transform any threatening qualities you might seem to have into harmless and cordial forms of expression. It’s also a favorable phase for you to count your blessings and make plans that will contribute to your longevity.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “No one ever found wisdom without also being a fool,” writes novelist Erica Jong. “Until you’re ready to look foolish, you’ll never have the possibility of being great,” says singer Cher. “He dares to be a fool, and that is the first step in the direction of wisdom,” declared art critic James Huneker. “Almost all new ideas have a certain aspect of foolishness when they are first produced,” observed philosopher Alfred North Whitehead. According to my analysis of astrological omens, you’re primed to prove these theories, Sagittarius. Congratulations!

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “Few people have a treasure,” writes Nobel Prize-winning author Alice Munro. She’s speaking metaphorically, of course — not referring to a strongbox full of gold and jewels.

But I’m happy to inform you that if you don’t have a treasure, the coming months will be a favorable time to find or create it. So I’m putting you on a High Alert for Treasure. I urge you to be receptive to and hungry for it. And if you are one of those rare lucky ones who already has a treasure, I’m happy to say that you now have the power and motivation to appreciate it even more and learn how to make even better use of it. Whether you do or don’t yet have the treasure, heed these further words from Alice Munro: “You must hang onto it. You must not let yourself be waylaid, and have it taken from you.”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): At this moment, there are 50 trillion cells in your body, and each of them is a sentient being in its own right. They act together as a community, consecrating you with their astonishing collaboration. It’s like magic! Here’s an amazing fact: Just as you communicate with dogs and cats and other animals, you can engage in dialogs with your cells. The coming weeks will be a ripe time to explore this phenomenon. Is there anything you’d like to say to the tiny creatures living in your stomach or lungs? Any information you’d love to receive from your heart or your sex organs? If you have trouble believing this is a real possibility, imagine and pretend. And have fun!

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “A myriad of modest delights constitute happiness,” wrote poet Charles Baudelaire. I think that definition will serve you well in the coming weeks, Pisces. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, there won’t be spectacular breakthroughs barging into your life; I expect no sublime epiphanies or radiant transformations. On the other hand, there’ll be a steady stream of small marvels if you’re receptive to such a possibility. Here’s key advice: Don’t miss the small wonders because you’re expecting and wishing for bigger splashes.

MOUNTAINX.COM

MARKETPLACE

BY ROB BREZSNY

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HUMAN SERVICES HELPMATE SEEKS OVERNIGHT CASE MANAGER AND RELIEF STAFF Do you want to do meaningful work that makes a difference?

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ADULT ADULT

LEGAL NOTICES

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

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1 Not be heard from anymore 7 Tom who created Jack Ryan

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edited by Will Shortz

16 Fans that jeer the home team, informally 17 Quick attack groups 19 Club booklet 20 Blind followers 20 21 22 23 24 Tennis star Nadal, to fans 29 27 Like the leftmost stripe on le 33 34 drapeau français 29 Deli loaf 30 “There you are!”

41 42 31 Like many TV news interviews 46 35 Emmy nomination number for which 49 Susan Lucci finally won for playing 55 Erica Kane on “All My Children” 58 59 60 37 Little bit 38 Comic actress Rudolph 39 Went 0 to 60, say 43 Producer of jinglejangle in the pocket 15 Humorist Ambrose 46 “Good for the earth” prefix who once defined 47 Horror film director “alone” as “in bad Aster company” 48 Grasp 8

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No. 0408 49 Coffee or beer, informally 50 Coke and RC 53 Mom on “Modern Family” 56 Aid for a Thanksgiving chef 61 Reverse course, slangily 64 Wing it?

65 Cry at a revival 66 Kind of sale 67 Clicked the double vertical bar on a YouTube video 68 Precipitates unpleasantly, in a way

DOWN 1 Oodles 2 Dead space?

3 Howl : wolf :: bell : ___ 4 Exuberant cry south of the border 5 Title film character who declares “Nobody owes nobody nothing” 6 Show obeisance 7 Gator’s cousin 8 Some garage jobs

puzzle by Sam Buchbinder 9 Eschewers of military service 10 “Ask Me Another” airer 11 Scoundrel 12 Fabric measures: Abbr.

14 Real English county on which Thomas Hardy based the fictional Wessex 16 Where you might roll the starts of 17-, 31-, 43- and 56-Across 18 George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” e.g.

21 Nook, e.g.

22 One of eight on most spiders 23 Part of an animal farm 24 Was in charge of 25 Fish on a sushi menu 26 Gushing letters 28 On drugs, say 31 Bump on a lid 32 Beaut 33 Driving test obstacle 34 GPS suggestion: Abbr.

36 What may have a ring to it?

40 10/24 celebration of global cooperation 41 Makeup of Elsa’s castle in “Frozen” 42 Drag 43 Kind of fly 44 Whiz 45 Pawned 49 Next to 51 Part of some encyclopedias 52 Smooth

54 Certain building beams 55 Get tangled up 57 Had some second thoughts about 58 ___ Modern 59 Division politique 60 Rules and ___ 61 One of 21 on a die 62 Actress Thurman 63 Sch. whose newspaper is The Daily Reveille

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HELP WANTED Wastewater/Water Plant Operator positions available in the Asheville Area!

Midwest Water Operations LLC is looking to add good team members with mechanical abilities to our growing team to work in the Asheville area. Pay scale ranges depending on qualifications. Paid health insurance, vacation & sick leave, and retirement. Wastewater and Water certification is required.

Fill out application at midwestwaterop.com MOUNTAINX.COM

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