Mountain Xpress 05.24.23

CAN ASHEVILLE STAY WEIRD?

Asheville’s creative community plays an important role in the city’s reputation. But with the high cost of living, and other economic challenges, how does Asheville maintain its quirky appeal?

COVER PHOTO Max Cooper

COVER DESIGN Scott Southwick

PUBLISHER & EDITOR: Jeff Fobes

ASSISTANT PUBLISHER: Susan Hutchinson

MANAGING EDITOR: Thomas Calder

EDITORS: Lisa Allen, Jessica Wakeman

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR: Thomas Calder

OPINION EDITOR: Tracy Rose

STAFF REPORTERS: Edwin Arnaudin, Thomas Calder, Andy Hall, Justin McGuire, Sara Murphy, Greg Parlier, Brooke Randle, Jessica Wakeman

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CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Mindi Friedwald, Peter Gregutt, Mary Jean Ronan Herzog, Rob Mikulak, Daniel Walton

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INFORMATION

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Branyon channels revisionist history

[Regarding “Dear John Francis Amherst Vanderbilt Cecil IV (Jack),” May 10, Xpress:]

“Freelance historian” Bill Branyon should have learned the basic lesson to watch where one lies down on the chance that one may get up with fleas. I must first note that I agree with Mr. Branyon (ignoring his “channeling of Lord Robert Cecil”) that the Raytheon contract in Buncombe County should be stopped. That contract is part of a pattern of powerful corporations extracting tax breaks and various subsidies to allegedly create local jobs, while too often failing to deliver on the promises made. From the point of view of the U.S. war-making machinery, moreover, that contract is part of a pattern of inadequate national oversight over what weapons systems should be built and to what purpose, especially in the context of the general absence of international conflict reduction and negotiation where possible.

I part company with Branyon, however, on the company he keeps. The article as a whole is a facile effort at revisionist history. The anti-war movement of the years between the First and Second World Wars were poisoned, not enriched, by people like Sen. Gerald Nye, a founder of the America First Committee, a profoundly anti-immigrant, anti-refugee and antisemitic movement that was an unstinting apologist for Hitler and the Nazi government in Germany.

That movement dissolved on the morning of Pearl Harbor, but from the 1930s and throughout the Second World War, it was one actor that successfully pressured President Roosevelt and his government to refuse to accept refugees fleeing the Nazi regime in Germany and the nations that Hitler invaded starting in 1939. Countless lives, primarily of

European Jews but also from other devalued groups, were lost because of Sen. Nye and his claque.

I again partially agree with Branyon about the contemporary knee-jerk anti-China rhetoric promoted by two succeeding administrations. What might have been a lessening of tensions accompanied by useful cooperation in some areas — in Reagan’s words, “Trust but verify” — instead undermines a possibly more productive and manageable relationship.

But Branyon engages in a caricature of history regarding Ukraine. I agree that NATO expansion after 1989 beyond the Baltic states was unnecessary and ill-advised, but that expansion was not the proximate cause of Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. And there

is a better case to be made that that war will not “easily become World War III.”

There are many other fallacies in Branyon’s article, including the silly conceit of who actually “wrote” it. The bottom line is that it takes a very amateur historian to assert that the “merchants of death” are the cause of war. Every war has multiple causes that are far more complex than Branyon makes out. (And, yes, it would be far better to find means to avoid war and resolve conflicts peacefully.) But the “merchants of death” and the “pro-war Hollywood propagandists” targeted by Sen. Nye and the America First Committee were and are scapegoats who can easily become victims of ethnic cleansing or mass incarceration or genocide.

— Paul Weichselbaum Hendersonville

First the world, then Asheville?

Slap my forehead! Why didn’t I think of that?

According to Bill Branyon’s channeling of Lord Robert Cecil [“Dear John Francis Amherst Vanderbilt Cecil IV (Jack),” May 10, Xpress], if we would just lay down our arms, peace would break out all over the world. The cantankerous people of Ukraine could stop worrying about the continuing Russian invasion that began in 2014, since Vladimir Putin would no longer feel threatened by a

peaceful democracy on Russia’s border. (Could it be Ukraine’s freedoms of press and speech, both totally suppressed in Putin’s Russia?)

Why was Ukraine foolishly maintaining an army anyway? Russia had invaded twice before, but we know Putin was only kidding. If Ukraine would simply disarm, he could sleep more “peacefully,” achieving his stated goal of obliterating Ukraine as a nation while realizing his dream of a reconstituted Russian empire with him as emperor.

Shame on those nasty Ukrainians for wanting modern American fighter jets to ward off Russian warplanes. Next we could move on to defunding the police here at home. Downtown businesses in Asheville would surely climb on that bandwagon.

— John Sterling Asheville

Stop revolving door for homeless offenders

[Regarding “Down Town, Part 7: The Justice System’s Revolving Door,” April 25, Asheville Watchdog:]

The first thing these unfortunate folks need is to be held accountable for their actions. Regardless of the circumstances, they need to understand that their behavior is not going to be tolerated.

Yes, get them housed and cared for and consider that as “time served.” Stop the revolving door. And support our police.

— Barry Shoor Asheville

Let’s not despair over EV batteries

A recent letter “How Green Are Electric Vehicles?” [April 26, Xpress] outlines the high cost of extracting lithium and other rare earth metals for electric vehicles. Yes, there are problems. But there is also hope — worldwide research to develop a battery made from commonly available materials, one that is economical, that recharges quickly and does not overheat.

Best candidates now for EVs and possibly for small appliances and phones are the graphene aluminum-ion battery, the potassium-ion battery and the sodium-ion battery. Other emerging battery technologies include the calcium-ion battery, the molten-salt battery, a “nano-flow” battery and one based on sodium sulphur. None of these use lithium.

Some of these are already in use for heavy construction and mining vehicles. And some will store

CARTOON BY RANDY MOLTON

electricity when wind and sunlight subside. For this, there is also the Newton battery, which uses excess electricity to haul weights high into the air and lower them slowly to run generators when needed. And “pumped water” uphill-downhill has been used for decades but is now being set up worldwide.

Let’s not despair. There are many brilliant minds in companies, universities and scientific agencies working diligently to bring us a new generation of batteries. It’s a grand and fascinating contest to see which technology will prevail.

— Tobias Van Buren Asheville and Mount Pleasant, S.C.

Add recycling stations and trash cans

[Regarding “Cleanup Time: Local Governments and Nonprofits Tackle WNC’s Filth,” April 19, Xpress:]

We need to have more transfer stations available for recycling. We also need more waste receptacles that are routinely serviced.

The transfer station is very busy, and there is sometimes a long wait. Recycling needs to be encouraged, but charging people to recycle is preposterous.

A couple of friends showed me photos of cities they had visited

outside of North Carolina. The first thing I noticed is their streets and sidewalks are clean. There weren’t overflowing trash receptacles; nor was the trash all over the sidewalk and streets. I didn’t even see cigarette butts. I thought that really is impressive.

If other places can do it, so can Buncombe County.

— Veronica Francia Candler

Pondering upstream cost-share priorities

Although I oppose narrow relevance, I finally had an idea that seems narrowly relevant to the Buncombe Soil and Water Conservation District, which is that water quality cost-share priorities lay primarily upstream and that therefore my creek, Sandy Mush Creek, is mostly a priority for Madison County, while Buncombe County cost-share priorities lay near, or possibly in, Henderson and Transylvania counties.

Any attempt by Buncombe residents to regulate upstream counties would run into major problems with home rule and the very concept of counties and county lines, but this might not be true forever of costshare funds anymore than it’s true of city abortion funding for country

folk. Funds might cross lines that regulations can’t cross.

— Alan Ditmore Leicester

Democracy is at stake in Supreme Court case

In 2005, John Roberts became the chief justice of the Supreme Court. The court has been referred to as the Roberts Court. Although he remains the chief justice, the court needs to be renamed for the foreseeable future as the Gang of Five Court. Justices Thomas, Alito (the current de facto leaders), Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Coney Barrett reign supreme.

These five justices have a radical, activist, right-wing agenda and a disregard for legal precedent. Their robes are red rather than black. In the courts’ last term, the Dobbs decision to remove as a law of the land a woman’s right to choose was their most blatant example in rewriting legal history.

In the current term, the justices chose to adjudicate a case where it is the contention of the North Carolina legislature that, under the Constitution, state legislatures have total authority as to the time, place and manner of an election. In the filing of its brief, the North Carolina legislature contends that the “man-

ner” implies that the legislature without state court interference can independently determine how districts are drawn, and in an election, how votes are counted, recorded and certified.

The will of Asheville voters will be marginalized. The decision by the majority of the court on this case is profound. American democracy is at stake. If the same logic that was used in the Dobbs decision is applied to the North Carolina case, the checksand-balance system that has been such an important component of fair government will be an obituary.

— Richard Boyum Candler

Keep on truckin’, Xpress

Thanks, Mountain Xpress! I’ve been a fan of yours from the moment I first arrived in these mountains 26 years ago. Grateful for your consistently fine coverage of local news and events and particularly appreciative of all you do to support our vibrant arts community. Keep on truckin’, y’all.

— Joe Fishleigh Hendersonville

Editor’s note : Fishleigh is the winner of this year’s Xpress Poetry Contest for his poem “What Stars See.”

CARTOON BY BRENT BROWN

The war years

A Jew in Asheville

BY JERRY STERNBERG

In my last column, I related the incident in 1939 that prompted the local Jewish community to band together and establish a place where we could meet in safety — a home of our own.

In 1940, this dream came true. The community bought a very large, spooky-looking, two-story house overlooking Charlotte Street. Ironically, it was only about 200 yards down from where William Pelley and his Jew-hating Silver Shirts had their headquarters.

The Great Depression was still handcuffing the country, and money was scarce. The members pitched in to do some remodeling, but it was an old house, and the furnishings were used and somewhat shabby.

For us kids, however, it was a magical place where the members of both the liberal and conservative local synagogues could come together in a secular Jewish environment. Here we could overcome the loneliness of being a very small minority in Asheville and come together for great activities such as singing Jewish songs, dancing to Jewish music, putting on plays, participating in sports and Jewish holiday activities, and just hanging with other Jewish kids. We could also speak openly about our culture without fear of offending the members of the Christian community, many of whom viewed us as children of a lesser god.

Shortly after the Jewish Community Center opened, a very generous benefactor gave the money to add a large, attractive social hall. This whole series of events turned out to be astonishingly serendipitous.

In December 1941, the U.S. entered World War II, and our new JCC became a host for the local Jewish Welfare Board, a sort of USO for Jewish servicemen stationed at installations such as Camp Croft in the Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., area, as well as for patients in our local military hospitals.

PITCHING IN

As part of our war effort, the whole community joined hands to welcome and entertain these mostly young soldiers. Families would invite the men to spend a weekend in their homes. On Friday night, they would

enjoy a traditional Sabbath dinner, and the family would take them to services at one of the synagogues. On Saturdays, we would give them a tour of the town, and on Saturday nights, we held dances with a band in the social hall.

It was interesting to meet these young men and hear their stories. Many had been drafted right out of high school, and after growing up in insular communities in big cities like New York, they were experiencing extreme culture shock in the Jim Crow South. In the later years, we began to host older, battle-hardened men, many of whom were treated at Moore General Hospital in Swannanoa, particularly for tropical diseases.

The dance was always a wonderful event. Serving mixed alcoholic beverages was illegal in North Carolina, so it was up to the customers to find their own alcohol. I was in my early teens, and I would help serve ice and mixers. Our lone — but very popular — menu item was a huge New York kosher hot dog served with a kosher pickle from Schandler’s, a downtown Asheville fixture for many years.

In addition, I made change for our six slot machines. At first, a typewriter mechanic kept them working. Luckily, he also showed me how to fix most problems, because suddenly, he was drafted, and it fell to me to repair the machines. It helped that my dad owned a junkyard, so when some law enforcement official would bust up a bunch of one-armed bandits and bring them in for scrap, I was able to salvage parts to keep ours operating.

Before one passes judgment on the morality of gambling and whether a teenager ought to be performing such tasks, keep in mind that the center was on a bare-bones budget, and the revenue from these machines helped keep the doors open so we could provide those services to our service personnel. In any case, gambling is gambling, whether it be slot machines, raffles or church bingo.

Also, the 1930s saw a terrible depression followed by a world war, and we young people grew up fast. We could get a driver’s license at 15, and many drove tractors and big trucks. To put this in perspective, one of my summer jobs was hauling dead horses, mules and cattle in a

pickup truck to my dad’s rendering plant. Because our able-bodied men had been sent away to save our country, we “kids” did work of all kinds that was well beyond our years.

DREAMS COME TRUE

The Jewish servicemen continued to come to our community till the end of the war. We youngsters were so proud to have them in our homes, and we loved hearing their war stories. Once, one of our soldiers took me out to his barracks at Moore General, where he showed me around and introduced me to his comrades. I felt thrilled to be with these great men who were serving our country.

Our guests came from all walks of life. The most famous one was a soldier named Zero Mostel, who went on to have a successful career as a stage and movie actor, including starring in Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway.

My parents developed lifelong friendships with some of these men. Some came back and married local Jewish women whom they’d met at the parties; others subsequently moved here with their families because they loved our community so much.

For a time during the war, overt antisemitism died down in the community. I have a very vivid memory, however, of some kids stopping in front of our house one night and making a lot of noise. I rushed to the window in time to see one of my classmates from school throw a trash can through our front door, shouting “Jew! Jew! Jew!” I recognized him immediately because he was very tall. I told my father, but he declined to press charges because he just didn’t want to make waves. The irony is that several years later, this same guy married a Jewish girl from a prominent family, and I assume they lived happily ever after.

To close out this chapter I would like to recount one of my proudest moments at the JCC.

On Nov. 29, 1947, many of us gathered at the center to watch and pray for the passage of U.N. Resolution 181, which called for partitioning Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish entities. This led to the creation of the state of Israel. Seeing this 2,000-year-old dream come true, no one could hold back their tears and shouts of joy.

Look for “Cultural Divide,” the next installment in this series, in an upcoming issue of Xpress Asheville native Jerry Sternberg, a longtime observer of the local scene, can be reached at gospeljerry@aol. com. X

JERRY STERNBERG

One of my classmates at school threw a trash can through our front door, shouting “Jew! Jew! Jew!”

Can Asheville stay weird?

Businesses try to maintain uniqueness amid city’s rapid growth

BY JESSICA WAKEMAN

jwakeman@mountainx.com

Asheville has always been a city where creative folks could survive or even thrive. Some opened brick-andmortars; others eked out a living in food service, hospitality or elsewhere and pursued their creative aspirations on the side.

Yet, these same free thinkers who bolster Asheville’s reputation as a haven for creative expression feel a strain wrought by the city’s success. They feel pushed out of affording a home, struggle to pay ever-rising rent or succumb to living with multiple roommates. Others worry about being able to swing rent for their businesses in Asheville that fulfill the mantra to “keep Asheville weird.”

“There are so many creative people here, and none of us are wealthy,” says Molly Clark, co-owner of Ben’s Tuneup. She estimates half of her employees live in Canton or Candler because they can’t afford rent in Asheville.

Tattoo artist Reina Lynn, who uses they/them pronouns, moved to Asheville from Florida. The city is more open about embracing members of the LGBTQ+ community like Lynn, they say, and the tattoo artist community is more mutually supportive. Plus, they add, the area is “so full of art everywhere you go, and you see supercool pieces everywhere.”

They found a job in Asheville by cold-emailing tattoo parlors and work at Drawing Board Tattoo on Rankin Avenue downtown. A majority of their clients are tourists. “A lot of people come here to get tattooed by [specific] artists,” they explain.

Yet after three years in Asheville, Lynn has grown concerned about “major gentrification of the area,” they tell Xpress. “A lot of people move here because they love the art everywhere and they love the grittiness,” they continue. “The city is trying to change it to be more profitable instead of lifting up the community that built the base of all of this.”

Clark says, “Don’t squeeze us out of making someplace wonderful and eccentric and unique.”

NOT A TYPICAL TOURIST TOWN

By any measure, The Odd is, well, odd. The dive bar in West Asheville

features headless dolls and animal skeletons in its decor. The menu lists cocktails called “radioactive unicorn tears” and “the blood of my enemies” — the latter allegedly served in a human skull. The bar’s reputation has spread worldwide. Co-owner Amy Marshall says while traveling in Argentina, Costa Rica and Mexico, she’s encountered people who knew The Odd.

Establishments like hers are “the heartbeat” of Asheville, she says. Tourists “come because Asheville is unique. It is weird. It is strange. It is just this amazing place,” Marshall effuses.

The Odd hosts drag performances, burlesque shows, a goth music dance night and a monthly meetup for the kink community. Yet, Marshall feels the watering hole gets written off as “‘just a dive bar’ or ‘it’s just a queer

bar.’” But it’s more than that. “We’re a very integral part of this community.”

Small-business owners recognize that they not only add value but are a driving force behind the popularity of this quirky city.

“If we want to keep Asheville weird, then [there needs to be] things that are authentic to Asheville that people are excited to come here and see,” says Morgan Hickory, co-owner of Shakey’s, a dive bar downtown that hosts live music, honky-tonk karaoke and drag performances.

These business owners aren’t isolated in their concerns. At its March 23 meeting, the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority viewed a presentation by marketing firm MMGY Global that reported “a high sense of pride, including Asheville’s perceived emphasis on inclusivity and diversity of culture” in a

survey of Buncombe residents, according to previous Xpress reporting.

Yet, MMGY Global’s research also found that “many [residents] still have concerns about the impact visitors have on the uniqueness and quality of life many relish,” Xpress wrote.

Asheville’s initiatives addressing small businesses are primarily geared toward newer entrepreneurial ventures and businesses with high growth potential. For example, Venture Asheville, an initiative between the Asheville Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Coalition for AshevilleBuncombe County, provides microgrants for early-stage startups and larger amounts of angel funding for early-stage, high-growth companies.

Rachel Taylor, a specialist in the Asheville Department of Community and Economic Development, notes that the city is not alone in its role in supporting small businesses, pointing to nonprofits, the private sector and the economy at large as also playing a role in businesses’ financial success.

RENT, RENT, RENT

For some independent owners, their existence comes down to affording their businesses’ rent.

In 2020, Shakey’s co-owners closed the bar’s location on the French Broad River. Like many small businesses in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic, Shakey’s, which is queer-friendly and popular with the biker community, struggled to stay open. (Getaway River Bar rented the premises and opened that same year; the location is colloquially referred to as Ole Shakey’s.)

Shakey’s owners weren’t ready to throw in the bar towel just yet. Hickory and her co-owners searched for a new location for Shakey’s for two years. “It was hard to compete with the outside money coming into Asheville — that was definitely a challenge,” Hickory recalls.

In September, the bar landed at 38 N. French Broad Ave., off Patton Avenue. “Specific local people knew who we were and had our backs,” Hickory says of the rental space. “We’re lucky now that we’re working with great landlords who are trying to, quote ‘keep it weird.’ They’re trying to work with locals, which we really appreciate.”

Changes have been afoot on the western end of Haywood Road as well — “completely different than it used to be, even 10 years ago,” Marshall says. She acknowledges that the increased restaurants, bars and shops in her neighborhood are “great,” she says. The Odd’s landlord made small increases to rent in the

TAT’S ALL, FOLKS: Reina Lynn is a tattoo artist at Drawing Board Tattoo on Rankin Avenue who loves doing tattoos of botanicals and animals. Photo courtesy of Lynn

standing landlord for her establishment’s existence in the current climate. A similar collaboration arose when the owner of The Get Down, the previous bar in The Odd’s space, decided to retire. He contacted Marshall and co-owner Tamy Kuper about taking over the space. The Get Down “was a punk bar at the time, and we were adamant about keeping the space a punk, metal bar,” Marshall explains.

“Is it as large as a brewery downtown? Probably not,” Marshall says. “But that’s not what’s important to us. I don’t need to make millions of dollars.”

IN THE ZONE

thinks parking and road infrastructure also need more attention.

without supporting the people who make this place.”

SHOP

Asheville could create zoning regulations to limit the square footage of new buildings, which would be suitable for smaller businesses but not big-box stores, suggests Andrew Celwyn, co-owner of The Herbiary, an herb shop on North Market Street.

nine years they’ve been there — “it’s gone up a little bit, like taxes and insurance,” Marshall explains.

However, the area’s growth has come at a price for her as well: This year’s rent increase had “a pretty substantial jump,” Marshall explains, adding, “we understand it. … Property value goes up, taxes go up, rent has to go up,” she explains. Still, Marshall says, “Is it going to be hard for us? Yes, it will. It will. We will struggle.”

Nevertheless, like Hickory at Shakey’s, Marshall credits an under-

Supporting

Andrew Celwyn, co-owner of The Herbiary, an herb shop on North Market Street, says the city could adopt several zoning changes that would support smaller businesses. (Celwyn is a board member of BCTDA.) One is requiring that the first floor of buildings in certain areas must be commercial space, instead of residential space like condos. “Not having [the first floor] be commercial space creates these dead zones,” he says.

Another zoning regulation that could help small businesses is to “limit the overall square footage you can build on the first floor,” Celwyn says. The thinking there is that if a commercial space is intentionally zoned smaller, it becomes unusable for national chains’ big-box stores.

Celwyn cited the Grove Arcade, a nonprofit space purchased by the city of Asheville in 1997 that contains two dozen shops and restaurants as an example of how smaller businesses can thrive in smaller square footage.

Hickory, co-owner of Shakey’s, worries about “a little too much hotel development … without a thought for affordable housing for the people who work in these places.” She

Artisans Just Got Easier!

Clark from Ben’s Tune-Up says it all comes down to affordable housing for workers here. “We need to support people who wait tables,” she says. Service workers “run this town.” She’s concerned about properties that were rented by workers in Asheville have turned into homestays. “I think [homestays] f—ed up town a little bit — we have a lot of outside investment

Clark notes that she did not want to criticize individuals who are trying to maximize an investment property; rather, she’s concerned about homestay companies that own multiple properties. “I’m calling out our town for letting that get carried away,” Clark says. “I think the city government has some responsibility to address these types of issues.” X

ODDS AND ENDS: Amy Marshall, co-owner of The Odd, says her bar and performance space in West Asheville has “a very unique clientele. ... We can’t forget that they’re out there.”

Photo by Jessica Wakeman

TALK:

Photo by Jessica Wakeman

First responders answer the call

Staff shortage turns up heat for 911 operators

BY GREG PARLIER

There’s a wreck on Interstate 26 with an injury. A man is found dead at home by his wife. A firefighter is missing at the scene of a fire. A breathless caller is struggling for oxygen. These calls to 911 keep coming, and workers at the understaffed Buncombe County Public Safety Communications Center keep answering.

There’s usually not much time for breaks between calls to step outside or use the bathroom, so workers in the windowless, dark call center basically stay glued to their chairs.

“It’s very busy. Very, very busy,” says Shaina Harris, who has worked as a dispatcher in Buncombe County for two years.

“Most of the time, there’ll be anywhere from two to four of us on the phones, and then the rest of [the workers] will be dispatching [calls to first responders]. So when we get a huge call load, we’re taking calls back-to-back,” she says.

The center is so short-staffed that all supervisors, managers and quality assurance staff — everyone short of the director — have been moved to the floor to take calls until the center is appropriately staffed, putting on the back burner the duties outlined in their job descriptions.

“It’s currently a critical staffing situation at the 911 center,” Rafael Baptista, Buncombe County’s director of strategy and innovation, told the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners on March 21.

Almost 488,000 calls were handled in 2022 at the call center at 164

Erwin Hills Road, and about 190,000 of those were emergencies on the 911 line. That makes the call center the sixth-busiest 911 call center in the state, according to Baptista. Asheville is the seventh-largest metropolitan area in North Carolina, as of the 2020 census.

The remaining 298,000 calls were nonemergency calls seeking information or assistance from county staff — the fifth-highest volume for such calls in the state.

As of last month, the center was handling that volume with 32 of its 77 positions unfilled.

“It adds a lot of mental stress and physical stress to people. Sure, it’s overworking people. And unfortunately, it is very, very wearing to a point where we’re losing a lot of good

people that have been here for a very long time,” Harris says.

The staffing issue is contributing to longer response times.

There typically are three main metrics on which to judge 911 call centers, Baptista told the commissioners at a board meeting in March. All are affected by being down 40% in call center staff.

• How fast calls are answered

• How fast the appropriate first responder is dispatched to the emergency

• How often errors are made by call takers and dispatchers

In April, more than 90% of calls were answered within 15 seconds, an improvement over the last several years and a rate that meets national benchmarks, says Derrick Ruble, director of the public safety communications center.

Once a call is received, the goal is to get a first responder dispatched to the scene within 64 seconds, Baptista says. As of March, Buncombe’s average dispatch time is 211 seconds, or 3 1/2 minutes.

Anecdotally, part of the response time issue is a lack of vehicle supply, Ruble says, as there are sometimes fewer ambulances available than the call volume demands. Specific data on ambulance supply wasn’t available at press time, according to Ruble.

But staffing issues are the primary reason, Baptista says.

The department doesn’t have information for the third metric,

error rate, because quality assurance personnel are too busy working on the floor answering calls to track that data, Baptista says.

DIFFERENT ROLES

Generally speaking, there are two main roles at the call center — taking calls from the general public and dispatching appropriate units to the scene, such as fire, police or emergency medical services.

First, a call taker fields an emergency call, learns what happened and where, and determines what agency should respond. A call taker then drops the information into the appropriate queue, where a dispatcher for that specific agency radios crews to respond to the scene.

Each agency, like the Asheville Police Department, Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, city and county fire departments and EMS, has a different dispatch system, so each dispatcher must be trained on their system of focus. Some call takers, like Harris, are able to juggle both duties when needed, depending on staffing levels, but it can be difficult to stay on the line with callers in a desperate situation and communicate with first responders at the same time.

Harris has five or six monitors firing at once, with everything from CPR instructions to real-time traffic cameras and maps to help her juggle all the necessary communications of the job.

MULTITASKING: Telecommunicator Shaina Harris is ready to answer your call in case of emergency in the Buncombe County Public Safety Communications Center as she also trains a new hire on the job. Photo by Greg Parlier

All this means being a call taker — as opposed to just a dispatcher — requires more extensive training. Ruble says it takes six to eight weeks before a trainee can even touch a radio or answer the phone and about six months of training to take calls on their own.

Existing call center staff members began receiving stipend pay in April to help them cope with the extended hours and stress. The pay extends until the center can fill 67% of its positions with in-house staff for at least three months.

Staff that has worked in the center for at least six months gets an extra $8 or $15 hourly for weekday shifts, and $12 or $20 extra per hour for weekend shifts, depending on the time of day worked. Pay starts at $18.90 an hour in the call center.

That, along with support from other agencies, has boosted morale, Ruble says.

’A BIG FAMILY’

Asheville is not alone in its staffing woes; staffing issues are common across the country. One stopgap is using personnel from other agencies to help dispatch calls, allowing telecommunicators to focus on answering calls directly from the public.

Bradley Collins, a captain at Woodfin Fire Department, previously helped dispatch in Henderson County, so he was a natural fit to help fill in the last couple months. He offers to work one or two shifts a week at the call center on top of his normal duties as a fire captain, and he likes helping his colleagues, saying it helps bring the departments closer together.

“It’s extra work, but I like it. All of us first responders, we’re a big family. It’s good to see it from their side. It’s fun behind the scenes and stuff. I like it,” he says.

The out-of-department help is paid, including overtime hours, by their home department, which is then reimbursed by Buncombe County, Ruble says.

Buncombe County has benefited greatly from the dispatching help, Harris says.

“They’ve been a humongous help for us, humongous help. So if we have enough of them on dispatch channels, we can dedicate our time solely to [training a] new hire to work on taking calls,” Harris says.

While the extra assistance has been vital, it’s not quite the same as having full-time staff, Baptista says.

“The first responders from our local agencies are an incredible asset and we wouldn’t be able to do what we’re doing now without them and we’re incredibly grateful for them.

But the reality is 911 telecommunicators are [professionals trained for] a specific job and the first responders who are in there, we’re training them to the best of our ability, but they’re not trained to the level of our own staff, so they are limited in the tasks they are able to perform within the 911 center,” he says.

In addition to enlisting help from other departments, Ruble is looking for staffing answers elsewhere.

He attended a conference on the topic in May, and is considering incorporating traveling dispatchers, a program similar to a traveling nurse program.

Ruble hopes two additional positions included in the proposed fiscal year 2023-24 budget — an administrative coordinator and a training and support specialist — will also help with his team’s workload.

NOT A GOAL, BUT A NECESSITY

Regardless of staffing and recruitment issues, working in a 911 call center requires a special person.

“One of the sayings in the industry is that less than 1% of the population has the skills to be a dispatcher. And less than 1% of the 1% can actually do the job. Just because you have the skills to do something, [doesn’t] mean you can do it. So it’s a limited pool of folks [who can do it],” Ruble says.

First and foremost, you have to stay calm in times of crisis, Harris says.

“If you cannot stay calm, this is not for you. Because that caller is calling in on their absolute worst possible day of their life. And if you can’t stay calm for them, you should not be on that phone because they are depending on us to stay calm for them. They are depending on us to handle that situation,” she says.

They’ve had calls from desperate people threatening to shoot themselves. Or a parent distraught that their child is not breathing, unsure of how to administer CPR.

Instances in which children are involved are the most emotional for Harris, she says.

Many times, the call center employees don’t get to hear the end of the story. They hear the initial panic from a caller, get emergency personnel on the way, and have to trust that they helped save someone’s life.

If a call is particularly upsetting, employees can go through a debrief-

ing process with the other first responders to get closure, something Harris says is very valuable.

The debriefing, provided by the county, brings together the telecommunicator and first responders to talk through what happened with an in-house mediator. The process may not be for everyone, but Harris says it has helped her deal with the anxiety of not knowing what happened after she gets off the phone.

“What if I could have done more? Or what if I could have done something better?” Harris often wonders after a call. “But you’ve always got to trust in yourself that you’ve done everything you can and that’s why you [always have] to be sure that you follow standards and you follow protocols and you follow what you’ve been trained to do so that you you know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you have done everything that you’re able to [do] and you’ve not missed anything,” Harris says.

Despite the difficulties of the job, Harris loves it, and is proud of the assistance she is able to provide.

“I love helping people. And when they’re having the worst day of their life, I also love the adrenaline that I get from it. It is such an adrenaline rush to be able to handle these. Sometimes I’d rather be out there physically doing it, because it’s just like, again, such an adrenaline rush for me,” she says.

“Sometimes as stressful as it can be, it is the most rewarding job I’ve ever had.”

Have what it takes?

DISPATCH DUDE: Woodfin Fire Capt. Bradley Collins pitches in overtime at the Buncombe County Public Safety Communications Center to help the understaffed center dispatch fire department units to emergencies. Photo by Greg Parlier

TRAIN ME: Veteran telecommunicators sit with trainees as they juggle answering emergency calls and dispatching first responders in the understaffed Buncombe County Public Safety Communications Center April 27. Photo by Greg Parlier

Buncombe County Public Safety Communications Center is hiring both full- and part-time positions starting at $18.90/per hour. Part-time employees work up to 19 hours a week. Candidates with two years of customer service experience are preferred. Apply at buncombecounty.org/careers.

Who’s in charge here?

BY TOM FIELDER AN ASHEVILLE WATCHDOG REPORT

This is a condensed version of Asheville Watchdog’s “Down Town, Part 8: Who’s In Charge Here?” For the full version, visit avlwatchdog.org.

Before the end came to his downtown Asheville ministry, Pastor Samuel L. Payne Jr. and his wife, Janice, tried mightily to demonstrate love and charity to the deeply troubled homeless people who overwhelmed the Sycamore Temple Church of God in Christ.

Every Sunday after services the couple offered free meals in the church basement, just as Payne’s father and his predecessors had done since the mid-1930s. For most of that time, people hungry for food, for temporary shelter, for human kindness and perhaps for an inspiring sermon came to mingle with the congregation’s Black members.

Then, about four years ago, things began to change.

“We started getting a different crowd,” said Janice Payne, known to congregants as Mother Payne. “People came who had no respect for the church and the ministry. They had drug issues. There were needles in the back alley where people would do drugs. They would defecate on our steps and do worse things. Our elderly became afraid to come for services. Parents wouldn’t bring their little children because of what the children would see.”

Pastor and Mother Payne said they believe most of these drop-ins were drawn to the church from the building next door on North Ann Street, called AHOPE Day Center, a nonprofit operated by Homeward Bound that provides services to people living on the streets or in shelters. At first, the Sycamore Temple congregation supported the facility’s work and members reached out to help, just as their faith called them to do.

Yet soon they felt overwhelmed by the numbers of people who were drawn to AHOPE and under siege from some who apparently suffered from substance abuse and untreated mental illness.

While still putting their faith in love, charity and divine guidance, they also turned to the city of Asheville and its elected leaders for more down-to-earth help: a greater police presence, a permit to erect a fence around the church and a city cleanup of used drug syringes, litter and human waste.

What they learned — before finally giving up and abandoning the church building, when no help from the city was forthcoming — comes down to this:

None of the Asheville politicians elected to serve the people — nei-

Thanks for Voting!

A deep dive into the city of Asheville’s leadership

CALLING THE SHOTS: Under Asheville’s “council-manager” form of government — sometimes also known as “strong manager, weak council” — only City Manager Debra Campbell is authorized to operate the city’s levers of power. Photo courtesy of the city of Asheville

ther the mayor, nor the City Council members — can actually do anything directly to help constituents like the Paynes.

In fact, under North Carolina law, the elected officials would be breaking the law if they took action to help a citizen directly.

Under Asheville’s “council-manager” form of government — sometimes also known as “strong manager, weak council” — only City Manager Debra Campbell is authorized to operate the city’s levers of power. Mayor Esther Manheimer has officiating duties but has no more authority than any other member of the City Council.

The city manager alone can hire and fire police chiefs, firefighters, urban planners, trash collectors and everyone else on the city payroll. If there’s a crisis in the city — say, a water system failure that left tens of thousands of residents without clean water for as long as 10 days over the holidays — only the city manager has the power to address it. The only check the elected officials have is the power to fire the manager they hired.

But what happens when Asheville’s city manager isn’t a strong leader?

CONFLICT AVERSE AND SLOW TO ACT

In interviews with The Watchdog, business leaders and others described Campbell as smart, professional, well organized and detail oriented. But they also described her as introverted, conflict averse and slow to act in crises and on festering problems like safety and cleanliness downtown. Neither Campbell nor Manheimer would agree to be interviewed on the record for this article.

Asheville City Attorney Brad Branham insisted that all records regarding Campbell’s job performance — for which she is paid $242,694 a year — are confidential. Branham also told The Watchdog that he would advise the City Council against holding any public discussion of Campbell’s performance.

State law does, in fact, allow personnel information to be released when it “is essential to maintaining public confidence in the administra-

tion of city services or to maintaining the level and quality of city services.”

Campbell’s current contract expires in December. With less than six months to decide whether to renew or terminate her employment, none of the City Council members contacted by The Watchdog would agree to voice their opinions about Campbell on the record.

A BAND-AID FROM CITY HALL

In mid-April, after several articles in Asheville Watchdog showed that the crime, drugs and sanitation problems of the kind afflicting the Sycamore Temple were pervasive throughout downtown, Campbell announced via press release a rare partnership. The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, which provides law enforcement to the more rural portions of the county, would assign sheriff’s deputies to begin patrolling downtown streets on weekend nights busy with tourists and restaurant patrons, thereby bolstering the thinly stretched Asheville Police Department.

“We are grateful for our police force and for the Sheriff Office’s willingness to provide additional patrols,” Campbell announced in the press release. “This is a good example of a collaborative approach to a safe downtown.”

The next week the city announced a downtown safety initiative that promised stepped-up attention to “removal of litter, needles and biological waste,” enhanced emergency medical response “to support individuals in crisis,” anti-graffiti measures and increased towing of illegally parked cars, a practice that had been halted because of the understaffed Police Department.

Despite the fanfare, the announcements had two obvious shortcomings.

First, every measure promised has been available for use by the city staff for months, even years. No new legal authority was needed. No additional money needed to be allocated.

And the partnership with sheriff’s deputies wasn’t initiated by the city. Rather, the showcased idea of supplementing the Asheville Police Department’s downtown patrols with sheriff’s deputies came pre-packaged from outside City Hall, a lifeline to the city from Buncombe County Commission Chairman Brownie Newman

In an interview with The Watchdog, Newman acknowledged that he proposed the idea to Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller, who devised the plan enabling his deputies to work with Asheville police. Miller and Newman presented the plan at a March 30 meeting with Campbell

and Asheville’s elected leadership, and it was quickly accepted.

The second and more serious shortcoming is that, for Pastor and Mother Payne’s Sycamore Temple’s congregation, and for some of the other businesses, employees and residents in the downtown core, the promised help is too little, too late.

The Asheville Police Department could offer no help to the Paynes as its depleted ranks were concentrating on major crimes. The church hired a security guard and appealed to City Hall for a permit to erect a gated fence around its property in the hope they could control who could enter.

But the permit application became hopelessly entangled in red tape about where the property lines were drawn. Hopes for a security fence were dashed.

One Saturday afternoon, early last year, Pastor and Mother Payne, with their two grandchildren in tow, went to the church to prepare things for the Sunday service. “There was a man in the back of the church, naked and defecating,” Mrs. Payne recalled.

“I got sick. Literally sick. I was saddened and angry. That did it for me.”

“We felt we no longer had a choice,” Pastor Payne said. “We had to leave.”

They listed the church property for sale in January 2022. That summer, they accepted a $3 million offer from Asheville-based Milan Hotel Group, which was building a hotel nearby.

Although Payne said in an interview that this was a painful decision, he said he knew that remaining downtown wasn’t possible. Payne and his wife said they felt forced to relocate the congregation far from the city’s core, where it had been for nearly a century.

Sycamore Temple’s new home is the former Biltmore United Methodist Church on Hendersonville Road, purchased for $4.2 million. The property includes a church, a day care center and an adjacent administration building. It’s 3 miles south of downtown.

A SYSTEM DESIGNED FOR GRIDLOCK

Asheville, like all municipalities in North Carolina, has what’s commonly called the “strong manager-weak council” form of government. It’s roughly similar to a corporate structure where a controlling board of directors — typically from a variety of backgrounds disconnected from

Looking to pay less in taxes?

Tax-free municipal bonds

the business — hires a CEO to run the business’s daily operations.

In Asheville, the board of directors is the City Council, composed of six individual members and a mayor, each elected to four-year terms. The mayor, though typically better-known by the public, has no more authority than the Council members beyond wielding the gavel at meetings and highlighting ceremonial functions.

This seven-member body then hires the city manager, the city attorney and the city clerk, who collectively carry out such daily operations as policing, sanitation, municipal courts, fire service, parks and recreation and building and zoning regulation.

The statutory language places strict limits on the powers and responsibilities of the City Council and its city manager. “[N]either the council nor any member thereof shall give an order to any city employee in the administrative service of the city, other than the city manager …. [Any violation] shall be a misdemeanor, conviction of which shall immediately forfeit the office of the member so convicted.”

As for the city manager, the law states: “It shall be the duty of the city manager to act as chief conservator

UNANIMOUS: Debra Campbell was unanimously selected to be Asheville’s manager in December 2018 at a time when the city police department faced criticism for its lack of diversity and the beating of a Black man, Johnnie Rush, by a white police officer. Photo courtesy of the city of Asheville

of the peace within the city; to supervise the administration of the affairs of the city; to see that the ordinances of the city and the law of the state are enforced therein[.]”

It’s a structure designed for gridlock, and intentionally so. University of North Carolina professor Kimberly Nelson, a widely published expert on the structures of local government, traces this to the earliest years of the nation when memories of a king were fresh.

“North Carolina didn’t want strong executives at the local level so it created a form of government that fixed that,” she said. Most people presume that the politicians they elect — and particularly the mayor — have the power to run the city; they are “strong mayors.”

“Everyone knows who the mayor is [because] they think of the mayors they see on TV,” Nelson said. “But most local governments are run by managers, not mayors.”

So where does the proverbial buck stop? “The buck stops with your elected officials collectively. It’s the entire body, not one person. I understand that it seems no one is in charge.”

Even many heavily engaged Asheville residents are frustrated by this structure because the “buck” is so widely spread it doesn’t appear to stop anywhere. Many citizens expect the mayor and Council to respond to

their problems, but the elected leaders cannot execute the laws they pass or the policies they direct. And the city manager they hire, who has that power, is not accountable to voters.

Supporters of the “strong manager” form of government contend that it keeps politics from influencing a city’s day-to-day operations. Critics contend that it can lead some city managers to work timidly to avoid being fired by a Council majority.

DRIFT, HELPLESSNESS, BUREAUCRACY

The result in Asheville, according to numerous interviews with business leaders and residents, is a pervasive sense of drift and helplessness.

“We don’t have anybody [on City Council] who, in my opinion, has the work experience to run a city with complex issues,” said Ruth Summers, a 27-year resident who recently completed a six-year term on the Asheville Downtown Commission, which provides the City Council with recommendations on downtown policies and programs.

“Then we hired Debra Campbell as city manager five years ago, who’s an introvert, so severely an intro-

vert that we have had important meetings where she has refused to come. I mean she refused,” Summers continued in an interview with The Watchdog.

Barry Bialik, owner of the Thirsty Monk pub on Patton Avenue, shares that frustration. “Maybe I’m used to seeing a powerful city leader rather than a bureaucrat,” he said, referring to the city manager. “A bureaucrat is going to run things like a bureaucrat, and that is kind of like our city is now.”

Manheimer and the six Council members declined The Watchdog’s request to discuss City Manager Campbell’s performance prior to the expiration of her five-year contract on Dec. 2, which will automatically renew for another two years without Council action.

Campbell, through city spokeswoman Kim Miller, declined a request for an interview to discuss her interest in continuing beyond that date, adding that she had no communication from Council members on that subject.

Nelson, who teaches at the UNC School of Government, said Campbell’s low-profile style is characteristic of professional city managers. Managers, she said, “are trained not to be in the public spotlight. … They work in partnership with the elected officials and want to shine a spotlight on them. That’s how they get reelected, right?”

Campbell was unanimously selected to be Asheville’s manager in December 2018 at a time when the city Police Department faced criticism for its lack of diversity and the beating of a Black man, Johnnie Rush, by a white police officer.

The previous city manager, Gary Jackson, a white man who had held the job for 13 years, was fired in a unanimous vote by the City Council, which did not cite a reason for the firing. “We appreciate the many successes Gary has brought Asheville in his 13 years here; however, we believe that making this change now is in the city and his best interests.”

Campbell came with a solid resume built as an assistant city manager in Charlotte.

‘SHE WAS AWOL’

Campbell’s leadership style came in for criticism beginning Christmas Eve last year when a severe freeze hit the city and a section of the city’s water-delivery system serving South Asheville was shut down. About a third of the residences and businesses in that section were without water, forcing many to close during a financially important week. Other parts of

the city were on reduced service for several days.

While citizens and businesses impacted by the disruption demanded answers from the city, Campbell was out of town.

“She was on a pre-planned trip which included Christmas Eve and Christmas Day,” Miller told Asheville Watchdog . “As it became clear the system was not recovering as Water Resources staff had hoped, Ms. Campbell returned to Asheville, being physically in town and in the office the morning of Monday, Dec. 26. From that moment she was an active participant in all calls, briefings and press conferences.”

However, it was Manheimer who took the lead in notifying Council members and staff, including presiding over news conferences. Campbell did not make any public comments on the crisis until Jan. 3, more than 10 days after the South Asheville water plant failed.

“Debra was totally nonexistent, she was AWOL,” said Summers, former head of the Downtown Commission. Manheimer sought to quell the outrage by meeting with business owners and residents but admitted she could do little other than listen to the complaints and promise a postmortem review of what went wrong. That was little solace to some.

“The mayor did a great job in stepping up and leading in the way that I would have liked to have seen the city manager step up and lead,” said Bialik, the pub owner. Missing from Campbell’s skill set, he said, is “leadership presence.”

“She’s an introvert, and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Bialik continued. “But how does that look to the public? When you think of a strong city leader — and especially in a city as charismatic as Asheville — you expect someone who fits the personality of the city. With Debra, that doesn’t jibe.”

Campbell has some defenders on the Council, though none was willing to speak publicly for this story. They describe her as professional, well organized, detail oriented and attentive to Council members’ needs. One said she can be eloquent in speaking about such issues as racial justice, police reform (but without “defunding” police) and reparations for the historic discrimination affecting Asheville’s Black community.

One Council member, also speaking without attribution, said Campbell has also encountered resistance to her leadership from high-ranking city staff because of who she is — a Black woman — rather than what she does. Since she took over, there has been an exodus of senior staff and mass departures

of sworn police officers, leaving more than a third of the budgeted police force’s positions vacant.

“I feel Debra hasn’t done anything consequential in the five years since she has been here,” Summers said. “Maybe she has done things behind the scenes. But what I’ve seen is senior staff leaving. We’ve lost years of historic memory in this city. Clearly there is something wrong here.”

Yet Patrick Conant, an open-government advocate who follows the city government closely, said Campbell is well regarded by staffers that he speaks with. “They like her style of management, which doesn’t raise conflicts among departments,” he said. “And she lets the Police Department operate in their own silo, which also reduces conflict.”

‘NOBODY EVER RETURNED THE CALL’

Whether Campbell can do anything more to reverse downtown’s decline is unlikely despite pressure from the mayor and Council members. They sidestepped a question from The Watchdog about scheduling a public review of Campbell’s performance, referring to City Attorney Branham’s advice that such reviews, if held at all, must be in secret session.

The fact remains that no matter what the Council and manager do, Asheville will remain trapped in a governing structure inclined more toward gridlock than change.

The Sycamore Temple bears witness to this. The church building is boarded up and surrounded by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. Signs warn trespassers to keep away, but a portion of the fence has been pulled down and discarded drug syringes can be found on the overgrown grass.

But for Pastor and Mother Payne, there is renewed hope. With money from the property sale, the Sycamore Temple congregation bought a larger church building on South Hendersonville Road, far away from the downtown troubles. Congregants have returned. Children play inside and outside.

Still, bitter memories simmer of their unsuccessful appeals to Asheville’s governmental leaders. “I called the city manager’s office,” Janice Payne said in recalling her final attempt to save the historic church on North Ann Street.

“Nobody ever returned the call.”

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and surrounding communities. Tom Fiedler is a Pulitzer Prize-winning political reporter. Email tfiedler@avlwatchdog.org X

NEW BEGINNINGS: Pastor Samuel L. Payne Jr. and his wife, Janice, inside their new church, 3 miles south of downtown. Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego

Buncombe unveils proposed budget with modest bump for schools

Buncombe County’s spending, including for education, is slated to increase next fiscal year, pending the outcomes of an upcoming public hearing and vote.

The $423.6 million general fund budget for fiscal year 2023-24, as presented by County Manager Avril Pinder during the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meeting May 16, represents a roughly 6.4% increase over the budget adopted last year. The approximately $25.5 million in proposed new spending includes 44 new county positions, including 24 public safety roles, along with increases in education funding, according to Pinder’s presentation.

Despite the funding bump, the roughly $115 million recommended for Asheville City Schools, Buncombe County Schools and A-B Tech — 28% of the entire general fund budget — falls well short of the education system’s requests.

Buncombe County Schools would be allocated $90.3 million, far short of the $116 million ask put forward by Superintendent Rob Jackson at a budget workshop May 9. BCS is seeking the extra funds, as unanimously approved by the school board, primarily to support pay increases for teachers and staff.

“Our county commissioners have been tasked with an incredible challenge in considering where the resources at their disposal will best meet the tremendous needs across our community,” Jackson said in an email to Xpress after the meeting. “We will continue to advocate for our students and staff and will continue to be excellent stewards of the funding entrusted to the school system.”

Asheville City Schools is slated to receive $16.8 million of its $20 million request, and A-B Tech would get $8.1 million of its $9 million request, according to the county’s proposal.

The proposed spending plan outpaces Buncombe’s more modest growth in revenues, with the county projected to bring in just $404.7 million from taxes and fees. The roughly $18.8 million budget gap would be covered by the county’s fund balance.

That spending is still expected to leave Buncombe with more than 15% of its budgeted expenses in reserve, as directed by county policy. However, county Budget Director John Hudson told commissioners during a May 9 budget work session that the fund balance would drop below that threshold by the end of fiscal year 2024-25 without other changes to spending and revenue.

In the proposed fiscal 2023-24 budget, the property tax rate would

remain at 48.8 cents per $100 of taxable value for the third straight year. For a house valued at $300,000, a taxpayer would owe $1,464 in property taxes.

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for Tuesday, June 6, and the final vote is slated for Tuesday, June 20.

Commissioners approve 20-year county vision

Buncombe completed a lengthy project of outlining how the county should change over the next 20 years when commissioners unanimously approved the 2043 Comprehensive Plan on May 16.

County staff has held or appeared at more than 100 meetings and events since fall 2021 to gather more than 5,200 responses from residents on the document, according to a staff presentation. Yet dozens of residents who felt their voice hadn’t yet been heard piled into the commission chambers and adjacent rooms to comment during the public hearing for the plan.

Some voiced broad support, but many expressed frustrations about a changing vision for their particular neighborhood. At least 15 people spoke directly about what they saw as an inappropriate change to density in the Beaverdam Valley northeast of Asheville.

“What concerns us in Beaverdam Valley about the [comprehensive] plan and the future land use map is that there’s a big disconnect between the proposed mixed-use neighborhood designation and the density currently allowed in the existing Beaverdam overlay,” said Nancy Clarke, the planning and zoning chair of the Beaverdam Valley Neighborhood Association.

“The level of density designated in the [comprehensive] plan is not complementary with any of the present development in Beaverdam,” she continued.

Nathan Pennington, Buncombe’s planning director, stressed that the comprehensive plan is a countywide policy tool that does not itself change zoning designations or laws. Board chair Brownie Newman added that he would not support high-density development near the upper end of Beaverdam Road, but he said such specific decisions weren’t at stake in the long-term vision document.

“Just because I don’t agree with every detail of it doesn’t mean I don’t enthusiastically support this overall plan,” Newman said.

Commissioner Parker Sloan said he hopes the plan will help Buncombe avoid what he sees as mistakes made by larger metropolitan areas, such as Charlotte, in accepting urban sprawl along with inevitable growth. And Commissioner Al Whitesides

stressed the importance of planning, something he said the county has not been proactive about in the past.

He cited his late father’s advice as he expressed his support: “If we don’t control growth, growth is going to control us,” Whitesides said.

In other news

One regular board meeting each month may move to the morning as of August. Commissioners informally agreed to give the new schedule a chance during their May 16 briefing.

Sloan said it’s important that both members of the board and residents with diverse work schedules are given as much time to participate in person as possible. “It seems like a mix, like [in this proposal], is an attempt at making that happen,” he said.

If formally adopted, the schedule would change the board’s first Tuesday meeting from 5 p.m. to 10 a.m., with a 9 a.m. briefing before the regular meeting. The third Tuesday meeting of each month would remain at 5 p.m. and be preceded by a 3 p.m. briefing.

County Manager Pinder said she could get the new schedule in place by July, but because that month only includes one meeting due to the July 4 holiday, changes would effectively begin in August.

— Greg Parlier X

PIE PROJECTIONS: Buncombe County nears approval of its fiscal year 2023-24 budget, projecting a 6.4% increase in spending over the budget adopted last year. Graphic courtesy of Buncombe County

Asheville Schools board chooses new superintendent

After a more than four-month search for a new superintendent, the Asheville City Schools Board of Education unanimously made its selection May 15 in front of a standing-room-only crowd.

Rick Cruz will start as the ACS chief July 1 after leaving his role as deputy superintendent for Houston Independent School District in Texas, where he worked in numerous roles for 15 years, according to a press release from ACS spokesperson Dillon Huffman

“For me, the work is really all about ensuring that we work together as a community, that we are partners in the work and that we’re making sure that every single student in Asheville has the support, resources and the guidance they need to be successful. That for me is equity. That for me is what this work is about. That’s what brought me here,” Cruz told the crowd in the ACS board room at 85 Mountain St.

ACS has had five superintendents over the last 10 years, the latest being Gene Freeman, who left abruptly in June 2022, more than five months before his previously announced November retirement. Interim Superintendent Jim Causby has served since then.

Cruz is slated to make $215,000 annually, paid through state and local funding sources. His contract runs through June 2027. For comparison, Causby makes $183,000 a year. Freeman made about $188,400, Huffman said.

Cruz currently oversees operations in his role as deputy superintendent but has worked as chief of strategy and innovation, chief of major projects and assistant superintendent of college and career readiness for the nation’s eighth-largest school district, according to the release.

Cruz also helped lead an expansion of the Houston district’s wraparound services department, an initiative to connect students and families to community resources that help them address noninstructional challenges affecting their ability to learn.

A graduate of Yale University, Cruz has a master’s degree in education

administration and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy from the University of Texas at Austin.

A Mexican immigrant, Cruz began his career as a fifth-grade teacher at a Houston school with a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students, where he was recognized as teacher of the year twice. As a teach-

er, Cruz founded and led EMERGE, a nationally recognized nonprofit that “empowers and prepares high-performing students from underserved communities to attend and graduate from selective colleges and universities,” according to its website.

He said he plans to use his experience building community partner-

ships to focus on equity in Asheville City Schools.

“My commitment to you all is that I will work with you all, I will listen to the community, I will stand side by side with each and every one of you in this room, in the community, in our schools, [with] our teachers, [with] our principals, and provide all of the resources and support so that together, we can move this district and make it even better than it already is,” he said.

Board Chair George Sieburg said that the board, in its selection process, found Cruz’s passion for community instrumental to his selection.

“His commitment to the children and educators of his district was apparent to us from the first moment that we met him. And the tireless efforts he has in bringing the community together in support of the schools is really one of the defining things that helped us know that he was the right person for the job,” Sieburg said.

ACS paid Summit Search Solutions $30,000 to conduct a superintendent search that yielded 49 applications. Along with the board, they whittled the list down to nine semifinalists and four finalists, making choices based on more than 1,000 responses garnered from numerous public input sessions.

As part of its contract, Summit guaranteed that it would repeat the search process for free if the hired superintendent left for any reason during the first year of employment or was terminated or resigned based on performance-related issues within two years on the job.

For his part, Cruz said he planned to make Asheville home for the “long term.”

“I know that this work takes time. It’s about relationships, about building trust. It’s about figuring out how we work collectively to make things better for kids. And I am really looking forward to being here for a very long time with each and every one of you as we work together toward excellence.”

— Greg Parlier X

ADMINISTRATOR IN CHIEF: Newly chosen superintendent of Asheville City Schools Rick Cruz addresses the Asheville City Board of Education during its board meeting May 15. Photo by Greg Parlier

Why I support Xpress:

“Xpress represents the heart of Asheville and I want it to always be here.”

– Michele Bryan

Q&A: Doctor’s opioid work earns White House recognition

It wasn’t until 2013 that the opioid epidemic stopped Dr. Blake Fagan, a family medicine physician, in his tracks.

“I had a patient of mine that I had been seeing for over a decade. I had delivered her two kids. [I] had what I thought was a really good relationship with her. And then she showed up in the emergency department dead from an overdose. It really did change my life, changed my career. I remember talking to the emergency room doctor. I was like ‘What happened?’ He said, ‘Duh, we’re in an opioid crisis. Where have you been?’ I don’t know where I had been, but I was just blown away that this person that I had taken care of for a long time …. that this can happen. So, I started reading a lot and became very passionate about trying to help people that have use disorders, but particularly opioid use disorder.”

That moment propelled Fagan on a journey that took him to a White House event early this year to celebrate the passage of the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act. Passed the month before, the MAT Act makes it easier for physicians to provide lifesaving treatment for opioid use disorder, the new term for opiate addiction.

Specifically, the act removes the requirement that a physician obtain a waiver from the Drug Enforcement Administration to prescribe buprenorphine, a drug to treat those suffering from opioid use disorder. Fagan said, “It doesn’t work for everyone, but about 50% of people that get on the medicine, their lives stabilize, and they get jobs, go to school, get kids out of foster care. It can be life-changing for them.”

Buprenorphine is a Schedule III drug, indicating a chance of moderate to low dependence. According to the

U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, it diminishes the effects of physical dependency on opioids, such as withdrawal symptoms and cravings. It also increases safety in cases of overdose and lowers the potential for misuse.

Fagan directs opioid treatment services provided at the Mountain Area Health Education Center. “There’s

a lot of stigma and bias around prescribing buprenorphine,” he says. “I really enjoy the challenge of talking to other providers and educating them about buprenorphine, answering their questions, helping them get through their fears. Then that satisfaction once they started prescribing buprenorphine that I was doing a small part in helping their patients through that education.” MAHEC’s

training and treatment of the disorder and Fagan’s work to educate lawmakers about the importance of buprenorphine led to his invitation to the White House event.

Xpress sat down with Fagan to discuss the MAT Act, how buprenorphine is used, and what it was like to go to a White House function.

This interview has been lightly condensed and edited.

Xpress: What called you to focus on opioid treatment?

Fagan: As I started doing more and more of that work within my family medicine practice, I realized that people with opiate use disorder are just like the rest of my patients. They just happen to have one additional chronic disease, and if you can stabilize it, they “do life” a lot like other people. It became very satisfying work to take care of the patients and also go out and teach other providers about opiate use disorder and about the medicine, buprenorphine. Is buprenorphine a medication that is taken for a long time or just for emergencies?

The way that it works best is that you take it every day, and you should take it for as long as it benefits you. For some people, that may be a year; for other people, that might be the rest of their lives. Some people don’t like that because there’s so much stigma and bias around this medicine. If it’s not the patient that’s having a hesitancy, it’s one of their loved ones. It’s very rare that someone comes to me and says, “Hey, you’re prescribing this high blood pressure medicine for my dad or for my wife. I want them off that right now.” That’s just not a thing. They’re just like, “Yeah, I don’t want them to have a heart attack or a stroke or die either.

A-LIST INVITE: Dr. Blake Fagan was invited to the White House for his work to treat opioid abuse disorder. Photo courtesy of Mountain Area Health Education Center

Of course, they’re going to take this medicine for the rest of their life.”

What’s the significance of the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act?

The (DEA waiver) was a big barrier to providers prescribing buprenorphine because even if they identified someone that had an opiate use disorder, what can they say? “Well, I don’t have my waiver. I can’t help you.” Maybe they would give a phone number or suggest an address of another clinic to go to. But they didn’t have the ability to treat the patient in front of them because they didn’t have the waiver. The medicine, buprenorphine, is actually really safe. By removing this waiver requirement, providers can write a prescription for buprenorphine just like a diabetes medicine or a high blood pressure medicine. They don’t need any extra paperwork and they don’t have to fill anything out on a federal website.

We believe that we went from having about 130,000 providers in the whole United States to now 1.8 million providers who can write a buprenorphine prescription, meaning all of us, whether you’re a certified nurse midwife, a nurse practitioner, a physician assistant. This literally means you could be seeing your cancer doctor or your heart doctor and disclose that you have an opioid use disorder, and they can now write this medicine. It’s a huge win for our society.

What was it like to attend the White House function?

It was an honor to go to the White House to celebrate the passing of the MAT Act into law. Thousands of people worked on this. I played a small part in educating some representatives at the federal level and some of the attorneys general from across the United States.

I’ve never been invited to the White House before. It was very exciting to be there for two reasons. One, to be at the White House. The other was to be there with all these people that lit-

erally spent three years helping to get this passed and feeling the sense of accomplishment. Hearing from Sen. Maggie Hassan from New Hampshire who was a big proponent of this bill and Rep. Mike Turner from Ohio, but then also meeting and hearing the push that happened from Dr. [Rahul] Gupta, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Annie Milgram from the DEA, and the assistant secretary for mental health and substance abuse. It was just great. All of these folks had to come together.

I learned that it takes a lot to get bills passed, and you have to get a lot of coalitions together. There was a great sense of satisfaction with passing this bill. I felt very honored to be able to be there for the celebration.

What surprised and delighted you about this crowd?

That so many of the people in the audience were not physicians. There were a few physicians there, but the organizers made sure that they honored and celebrated this act with many people that are in the recovery community. There were social workers, pharmacists and people with lived experience that had lost loved ones to this terrible disease who had been big advocates and would jump on phone calls like I was doing when representatives or others had questions to help them become educated so that they would feel comfortable voting “yes” on this.

This was a huge step. But we know because of the stigma and bias associated with opiate use disorder, and the medicine in particular, buprenorphine, that we’re still going to have to do a lot of education.

I am just really proud that our state of North Carolina and the folks that work in North Carolina who have tried very hard to make sure that we’re teaching the providers out there about buprenorphine so that they can take care of folks with opiate use disorders.

LA Bourgeois X

For a full list of community calendar guidelines, please visit mountainx.com/calendar. For questions about free listings, call 828-251-1333, opt. 4. For questions about paid calendar listings, please call 828-251-1333, opt. 1.

 Online-only events

 More info, page 31

 More info, page 32-33

WELLNESS

Narcotics Anonymous Meetings

Visit wncna.org/ basic-meeting for dates, times and locations.

Sparkle Time Holistic Exercise

Aerobic, strengthening, balance and flexibility.

WE (5/24, 31), MO (5/29), 10:30am, Avery's Creek Community Center, 899 Glennbridge Rd SE, Arden

Tai Chi for Balance

A gentle exercise class to help improve balance, mobility and quality of life. All ages are welcome.

WE (5/24, 31), 11:30am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste109

Open Heart Meditation

An easy way to listen to your heart. Each week you will be helped to relax, smile and enjoy your own heart. Follow your

heart to happiness and healing.

TH (5/25), 3pm, SeekHealing, 50 S French Broad Ave, Ste 300

Old School Line

Dancing

Old school dances, and some new.

TH (5/25), 6:15pm, Stephens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave

Asheville Aphasia Support Group

Every Friday in Rm 345.

No RSVP needed.

FR (5/26), 10am, WCU at Biltmore Park, 28

Schenck Pkwy, Ste 300

Family Education Workshop: Routines for Healthful Sleep

Learn easy ways to achieve your best night of sleep.

FR (5/26), 10am, Black Mountain Library, Black Mountain

Free Yoga

Yoga session hosted outdoors.

FR (5/26), 5pm, Rabbit Rabbit, 75 Coxe Ave

MODERN CALLIGRAPHY WORKSHOP

Preserve the art of beautiful handwriting at The Elephant Door. [AVL] Sunday

June 4th 1-4pm

REGISTRATION DEADLINE May 31

Includes snacks and starter kit. Cost $100 Scan QR code for upcoming events.

828.777.6787

Therapeutic Slow Flow

Yoga

A blend of mediation, breathing and movement. All bodies, genders and identities welcome. Bring your own mat.

SA (5/27), 10am, Mount Inspiration

Apparel, 444 Haywood Rd, Ste 103

Goat Yoga on the Farm

Gentle practice that accommodates all levels, children are welcome. Bring your own mat. Register at yogamtgileadfarm@ gmail.com

SA (5/27), 11:30am, Mount Gilead Farm, 588 Green Valley Rd, Leicester

Magnetic Minds: Depression & Bipolar Support Group

Free weekly peer-led meeting for those living with depression, bipolar and related mental health challenges. Email depressionbipolarasheville@ gmail.com or call or text (828) 367-7660 for more info.

SA (5/27), 2pm, 1316 Ste C Parkwood Rd

Yoga Taco Mosa Yoga practice led by Clare Desmelik. Bring your mat, a water bottle and an open heart. Free but donation suggested.

SU (5/28), 10:30am, The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave

Rooftop Yoga w/ Down Dog

A foundational yoga class that will challenge students to practice at a slower pace while exploring difficult postures and poses for a full-body flow. Beginner friendly.

SU (5/28), 11am, Highland Brewing Co., 12 Old Charlotte Hwy, Ste 200

Spring Flow w/Jamie

Designed to release heat stored in the body, release excess kapha, and prepare the body for summer. Expect strength

KIDDING AROUND: On Saturday, May 27, at 11:30 a.m., you can move through your sun salutation surrounded by goats in the pastures of Mount Gilead Farm, with the assistance of instructors Jenna and Jill. Photo of Caroline Lavigne by Jenna Atwood

building with long stretches. Bring your mat.

SU (5/28), 11am, One World Brewing West, 520 Haywood Rd

Gentle Yoga for Queer & GNC Folks

This class is centered towards creating an affirming and inclusive space for queer and gender non-conforming individuals.

SU (5/28), 1:30pm, West Asheville Yoga, 602 Haywood Rd

NCMTR Bent Creek

Trail Run

Multiple pace and distance groups are available to cater to all experience and ability levels, three to six miles. Well-behaved leashed dogs are welcome.

MO (5/29), 6:30pm, Hard Times Trailhead, 375 Wesley Branch Rd

Zumba

Mask and social distancing required. Registration not necessary. Por Favor usa tu cubre bocas antes de la clase.

TU (5/30), 6:30pm, St. James Episcopal Church, 424 W State St, Black Mountain

Free Zumba Gold Fitness program that involves cardio and Latin-inspired dance. Donations are appreciated. For more information please call (828) 350-2058.

WE (5/31), noon, Stephens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave

5Rhythms Sweat Your Prayers

Hosted by three certified 5Rhythms teachers. No dance experience required, must be curious about movement. Email Karen at Chapman5Rhythms@

gmail.com for more information. WE (5/31), 5pm, Homewood, 19 Zillicoa St

ART

Reflections of Nature: The Art of Robert Gregory Gross

An exhibition of Plein air master Robert Gregory Gross’s lifetime of work in watercolors, oils, etchings, ink and pencil sketches. Gallery open Monday through Saturday, 11am, and Sunday, 1pm. Exhibition through June 3.

Flood Gallery Fine Art Center, 850 Blue Ridge Rd, Unit A-13, Black Mountain

SOJOURN: Phil Garrett

Paintings & Monotypes

Phil Garrett's work is informed by nature. The power of storms, the spiritual quality of the elements, the beauty, grace and ferocity of plants and animals. Painting and making monotypes is his search for the mystery within the subject, within himself. Gallery open Monday through Saturday, 10 am and Sunday, noon. Exhibition through June 11.

Pink Dog Creative Gallery, 348 Depot St

Altruistic Genius: Buckminster Fuller’s Plans to Save the Planet

This exhibition brings the inventions and designs of R. Buckminster Fuller to Western North Carolina and introduces visitors to Fuller’s strategies for the sustainability of humans and the planet relating to housing, transportation, mathematics, and engineering. Gallery open daily, 11am, closed Tuesday. Exhibition through August 21.

Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Adult Studio: Combine, Create & Collage Experiment with line, shape, color, pattern and texture as you construct a collage composition from a variety of papers.

SA (5/27), noon, Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Natura a Colori

Exhibition

This exhibit explores the wide range of expressive possibilities using various techniques from slumping to "painting" with glass powders. The goal of this show is to share the unexpected ways in which kiln-formed glass can make a creative statement. Gallery open

Friday through Sunday, 10am. North Carolina Glass Center, 140 Roberts St, Ste B Too Much Is Just Right: The Legacy of Pattern and Decoration Featuring more than 70 artworks in an array of media from both the original time frame of the Pattern and Decoration movement, as well as contemporary artworks created between 1985 and the present. Gallery open daily, 11am, closed Tuesday. Exhibition through May 29. 11am, Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Wildflower Drawing Stephanie will guide you through stepby-step drawing and coloring techniques. There will be a handout of photographs of the flower to use as visual references. Each flower will be observed closely to learn more about their parts and unique characteristics.

WE (5/31), 10am, Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 225 W State St, Black Mountain Daily Craft Demonstrations

Two artists of different media will explain and

demonstrate their craft with informative materials displayed at their booths, daily. These free and educational opportunities are open to the public. Daily, 10am.

Folk Art Center, MP 382, Blue Ridge Pkwy

Year of the Rabbit: Solo Exhibition for Hunt Slonem Slonem’s opulent textural paintings of his iconic birds and butterflies and his wildly popular rabbits, as well as unique sculptural works, give us a glimpse into Slonem’s colorful maximalist world and artistic empire. Gallery open Monday through Saturday, 10am, and Sunday, noon. Exhibition through June 30. Bender Gallery, 29 Biltmore Ave

Pulp Potential: Works in Handmade Paper

The works in this exhibition reveal the breadth of possibilities and unique qualities that exist when artists choose to employ and even create handmade paper. Gallery open daily, 11am, closed on Tuesday. Exhibition through July 14.

Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Art Break: Luzene Hill

An informal Gallery discussion about the works in the exhibition, Luzene Hill: Revelate.

TH (6/1), 6pm, Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Open Studio

This free drop-in program aims to expose and engage participants with the Museum’s Collection and changing exhibitions. The Asheville Art Museum will provide all instruction, supplies and materials.

TH (6/1), 6pm, Different Wrld, 701 Haywood Rd, Ste 101

COMMUNITY MUSIC

Michael Jefry Stevens

Quartet

Performance with Michael Jefry Stevens on keyboard, Christian Howes on violin, Rick Dilling on drums, and Bryan McConnell on bass.

TH (5/25), 6pm, Enka-Candler Library, 1404 Sandhill Rd, Candler

Memorial Day Concert

The A.C. Reynolds band, chorus and ROTC are holding their annual Memorial Day Concert.

TH (5/25), 6:30pm, Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, 87 Haywood St

Songwriter Showcase:

Amanda Anne Platt & Wes Pearce

Singer-songwriter and archivist Greg Cartwright will host a songwriter showcase,

featuring Amanda Anne Platt, and Wes Pearce.

TH (5/25), 6:30pm, Citizen Vinyl, 14 O'Henry Ave

The Blue Ridge Ringers Presents: Spring Dances

The Blue Ridge Ringers are an auditioned community handbell ensemble with 16 ringers from Henderson, Transylvania, Buncombe, Polk, and Spartanburg counties.

TH (5/25), 6:30pm, College Walk Retirement Community, 100 College View Court Brevard

Jazz Jam

Hosted by LEAF Global Arts, every Thursday with Thommy Knoles on keys, Felix Pastorius on bass, and Paul Gladstone on drums. This event is followed by an open jam session. Drop-ins are welcome so bring your instruments and jam with us.

TH (5/2, 6/1), 7pm, LEAF Global Arts, 19 Eagle St

Concert Series on the Creek: The Foreign Landers Free concert series for the community with folk and bluegrass band The Foreign Landers kicking off the series. These events are free with donations encouraged. There will be food trucks available on most nights.

FR (5/26), 7pm, Bridge Park Gazebo, 76 Railroad Ave, Sylva

Love Your Mother (Earth)

This concert will focus on songs celebrating, caring for, and advocating for Mother Earth. The first half of the program will highlight music that expresses love for the earth –appreciation, reflection, connection and joy. The second half will feature music that expresses love for the earth in action – doing, moving, and making change.

FR (5/26), 7pm, Unitarian Universalist

Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place

Western Carolina

Writers Presents: Songwriters Showcase

Featuring nine singer-songwriters from all over Western North Carolina. This show puts the spotlight on local songwriting and original music with a touch of tasteful collaboration between some of the most talented performers in the area.

FR (5/26), 7pm, SA (5/27), 3pm, AyurPrana Listening Room, 312 Haywood Rd

Amanda Anne Platt & the Honeycutters

Hendersonville Theatre presents Asheville Americana band, Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters as May’s intimate Home-

town Sound concert.

FR (5/26), 7:30pm, Hendersonville Theatre, 229 South Washington St, Hendersonville

Lonesome Station

Presents: Palmyra w/Earleine & Andy Ferrell

An intimate live performance with Palmyra who explores the fusion of traditional folk string instruments, three part harmonies and foot percussion.

Asheville-based musician, Andy Ferell and Erleine from Nasheville, TN will also be playing.

FR (5/26), 7:30pm, Story Parlor, 227 Haywood Rd

Rock Academy Students perform rock songs of various genres, including blues, classic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, punk, and more.

SA (5/27), noon, The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave

Pianist Brian Turner

Playing solo piano favorites in the Great Hall.

SA (5/27), 7pm, The Omni Grove Park Inn, 290 Macon Ave

Asheville Community Band Celebrates

Memorial Day

The band will pay homage to fallen servicemen and women with themes from the five branches of the U.S. Military, along with many other patriotic favorites, and the premiere of “Big Sky March". This event is free, but donations for the Asheville Community Band are welcome.

SU (5/28), 2pm, The Biltmore Estate, 1 Lodge St

Blue Ridge Music

Trails: Fine Tuned Concert Series

This special concert series features bluegrass artists Josh Jones and Sav Sankaran, and Bayla Davis with Cary Fridley. Hear and experience the next wave of emerging artists in Western North Carolina.

SU (5/28), 2pm, Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center, 51 Cowee School Dr, Franklin

Mark's House Jam & Beggar's Banquet

Weekly Sunday pot

luck and musician's jam with acoustic and plug in players. It's a family friendly community day so bring a dish to share.

SU (5/28), 3pm, Asheville Guitar Bar, 122 Riverside Dr Michael Jefry Stevens

Performing several jazz pieces during the service.

SU (5/28), 10:30pm, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hendersonville, 2021 Kanuga Rd, Hendersonville

Pavel Wlosok Quartet

Will play a blend of jazz traditions including swing, modal, and Latin, along with influences of contemporary, world, and Czech folk musics.

MO (5/29), 7pm, Little Jumbo, 241 Broadway Sirens of Hominy Series

A collaborative in-the-round, featuring a different set of Asheville songstresses every week. Hosted by CaroMia, genres ranging from soul, R&B, pop, jazz, to country.

TU (5/30), 6pm, FBO Hominy Creek, 230 Hominy Creek Rd

Pritchard Park Songwriter Series

Each week will feature two songwriters from our community playing songs about life in the 21st century.

TH (6/1), 5:45pm, Pritchard Park, 4 College St

Tony Cedras & Friends

A South African accordion, harmonium, keyboard and guitar player. He has performed or recorded, most often on accordion, with various well-known artists.

TH (6/1), 7pm, White Horse Black Mountain, 105C Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

LITERARY

Joke Writing Workshop

Hosted by Disclaimer Stand Up Lounge and moderated by Cody Hughes, weekly. Bring 90 seconds of material that isn’t working.

WE (5/24, 31), 6:30pm, Asheville Music Hall, 31 Patton Ave Creative Writing Workshop: EcoBiography Spring creative writing workshops with Fairview author and teacher Dr Beth Keefauver. The May class will focus on EcoBiography. For more information call (828) 250-6484.

TH (5/25), 11:30am, Fairview Library, 1 Taylor Rd, Fairview Why Tammy Wynette Matters w/Steacy Easton

A discussion of  Wynette’s music and biography.

TH (5/25), 6pm, Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe, 55 Haywood St Black Experience Book Club: Dyscalculia

The Black Experience Book Club will discuss Dyscalculia by Camonghne Felix.

TH (5/25), 6:30pm, Noir Collective, 39 S Market St

Poetry Open Mic Hendo

A poetry-centered open mic that welcomes all kinds of performers every Thursday night.18+

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

TH (5/25, 6/1), 7:30pm, Shakedown Lounge, 706 Seventh Ave East, Hendersonville

UNC Press Presents

Country Capitalism w/ Bart Elmore

Elmore explores the historical, economic and ecological conditions that gave rise to five trailblazing corporations.

TU (5/30), 6pm, Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe, 55 Haywood St

THEATER & FILM

Improv Level One Showcase

A show brought to you by our Hendersonville Theatre Level One improv class. This is a free event open to the public. Donations will be accepted to benefit educational programs at Hendersonville Theatre.

WE (5/24), 7:45pm, Hendersonville Theatre, 229 South Washington St, Hendersonville

The Revolutionists

Four revolutionary women lose their heads in this girl-powered comedy set during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. WE (5/24, 31), TH (5/25, 6/1), FR (5/26), SA (5/27), 7:30pm, SU (5/28), 2pm, North Carolina Stage Company, 15 Stage Ln

The Azure Sky in Oz

The true stories of two women whose lives are changed by the neurodiverse.

TH (5/25), SU (5/28), 7:30pm, SA (5/27), 2pm Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre, 44 College St, Mars Hill

Big Fish

A Musical Comedy with fantasy creatures, large dance numbers, music, and a tale about growing from child to adult to parent.

FR (5/26), SA (5/27) 7:30pm, SU (5/28), 2pm Hart Theatre, 250 Pigeon St, Waynesville Finding Nemo Musical

A 60-minute musical adaptation of the 2003 Pixar movie with new music by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. Performed by local kids at the Asheville Junior Theater. See p32 SA (5/27), 2pm and 6pm, SU (5/28), 2pm Diana Wortham Theatre, 18 Biltmore Ave

Say Goodnight Gracie

This show celebrates George Burns whose career was showcased across radio, film, and television and was known for his smoking cigar and arched eyebrow. Runs through May 28.

FRI (5/26), SA (5/27), 7:30pm, SU (5/28), 2pm.

Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre, 44 College St, Mars Hill

MEETINGS & PROGRAMS

Competitive Duplicate

Bridge

Check bridgeweb.com/ avl for dates, times and special announcements. All are welcome.

WE (5/24, 31), FR (5/26), MO (5/29)

noon, Congregation

Beth Israel, 229 Murdock Ave

The Swannanoa Railroad Tunnel: An Engineering Marvel & a Human Tragedy

Dr. Dan Pierce, professor of history at UNC Asheville, will speak on the landmark achievement and about those who suffered and died to bring Western North Carolina into the modern world. RSVP with Nancy Williams at nwilliam@unca.edu

WE (5/24), 12:15pm, The Country Club of Asheville, 170 Windsor Rd

Ally Workshop w/ DIYabled

Discuss disabled rights with DIYabled.

WE (5/24), 6pm, Different Wrld, 701 Haywood Rd, Ste 101

Business in Color

A community event fostering an inclusive and diverse business landscape. Expand your network, share ideas and connect with potential collaborators. Free & open to the public.

WE (5/24), 6pm, Asheville Masonic Temple, 80 Broadway

Homemade Health & Wellness Series w/ Ashley English

This weeks topic is spring reserves such as strawberry jam, quick pickled radishes, beet & dill relish, and pickled asparagus. Class is free to attend, but call (828) 250-4758 to register.

See p31

WE (5/24), 6pm, Enka-Candler Library, 1404 Sandhill Rd, Candler

Rhythm of Women

This is a women only drum circle. Learn East African drumming techniques and enjoy the rhythm and sounds of feminine beats. Text (828) 777-6787 to reserve your space.

WE (5/24, 31), 7pm, The Elephant Door, 126 Swannanoa River Rd

Spanish Club

Spanish speakers of all ages and levels are welcome to join together for conversation to practice the language in a group setting. Every Wednesday.

WE (5/24, 31), 6pm, Black Mountain Brewing, 131 NC-9, Black Mountain

Swing Dance Lessons

Open to all beginners wanting to learn 8-count Lindy Hop. Beginner basics will be learned and explored

each week with new moves to add to your tool belt.

WE (5/24, 31), 7pm, LEAF Global Arts, 19 Eagle St

Vegetable Series: Planting a Seed Saving Garden

Extension Master Gardener Barb Harrison will lead the program beginning indoors where she will cover what you need to remember for a seed-saving garden.

TH (5/25), 10am, Buncombe County

Cooperative Extension Center, 49 Mount Carmel Rd, Ste 102

AVL Beer Week: Craft Studio Sessions

A free three day course for people interested in the process of creating craft beer with a different focus on each day. Craft brewing is going live, fully transparent, and your favorite brewers are hosting a real brew day collaboration to reveal the passion, craftspersonship, and love that goes into brewing singular beer.  Visit avl.mx/cph for all of the details.

TH (5/25), FR (5/26), SA (5/27) 3pm, Outsider Brewing, 939 Riverside Dr

AmeriHealth Caritas

Asheville: Change Your Palate Cooking Demo

This free food demonstration is open toe everyone but tailored towards those with type 2 diabetes or hypertension and/ or their caretakers. Our featured host is Change Your Palate's very own Shaniqua Simuel.

TH (5/25), 5:30pm, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave Disc Golf Putting & First Throw Clinic

Learn the basics of disc golf with Lone Star Discs Sponsored Pro, Matthew Splain. Players will start on Highland’s putting green to learn how to hold and throw a disc golf disc. This clinic is intended for first time players.

TH (5/25), 6pm, Highland Brewing Co., 12 Old Charlotte Hwy, Ste 200 Southside Card Game Night Families and community members can play card games like bid whist/ spades, Apples to Apples, Uno, and more. Light refreshments served.

TH (5/25), 6pm, Dr Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St

Virtual In Conversation: Nancy Cohen

A virtual conversation to discover the breadth of possibilities and unique qualities that exist in handmade paper. Register at avl.mx/cou

TH (5/25), 6pm, Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Community Choice Open House Free time for the community to enjoy the community center. Relax while painting on a canvas, walking on the treadmill, playing a game of cards, shooting some hoops and more.

TH (5/25), 6:30pm, Stephens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave Peace Talks in WNC

The main topic for the first symposium is titled, “The Monroe Doctrine, Revisited: How 200 Years of U.S. Policy Have Helped to Destabilize the Americas.”

TH (5/25), 7pm, Land of Sky United Church of Christ, 15 Overbrook Place Swing Dance Lesson & Dance Swing dancing lesson and dance, every Thursday.

TH (5/25 6/1), 7pm, Alley Cat Social Club, 797 Haywood Rd

The Birding Effect: Birding as an Introduction to Nature Wildlife Biologist Alex Troutman will share his passion for birding, how he connects with other Black birders and underserved communities, and how he helps people to find nature in their everyday life.

TH (5/25), 7pm, UNC Asheville Reuter Center, 1 University Heights

Tea & Tarot Fridays

Play with Tarot and Tea Leaf readings. Bring your cards, tea cup, and other favorite divination tools. All styles and experience levels welcome.

FR (5/26), 10am, Mountain Magic Studio, 3 Louisiana Ave May Mobile American Red Cross Blood Drive Asheville Outlets is teaming up with the American Red Cross to host a mobile blood drive in the parking lot located behind the food court. Donors are asked to register in advance by visiting RedCrossBlood.org/ give and entering the sponsor code AshevilleOutlets. For more information, visit ShopAshevilleOutlets. com.

FR (5/26), 11am, Asheville Outlets, 800 Brevard Rd

AmeriHealth Asheville: GEMS Domestic Violence Support Group

This event will focus on mental health & support and feature local Community Health Worker Whitley English. Whitley is a community health worker, peer support specialist and recovery coach. This event is open to all who have experienced domestic

abuse.

FR (5/26), 7pm, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave

Southside Community

Clean Up

Each participant will be provided gloves, masks, and trash bags or recycle bags to help pick up trash and recyclables. Adults, parents and local community figures are encouraged to participate. For more information contact (828) 259-5483 or grantcenter@ashevillenc.gov.

SA (5/27), 10am, Dr Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St

Yoga in the Park

Each class is unique, intertwining movement with breath, with a different focus of strength and release. All-levels welcomed, but bring your own props and mat.

SA (5/27), SU (5/28)

11am, 220 Amboy Rd

Plants for Birds

Outings

Randy Richardson will be your naturalist guide, highlighting blooming wildflowers and notable trees and shrubs, sharing anecdotes about each along with their role in

supporting our avian visitors.

SA (5/27), 1pm, Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary, 1056 Merrimon Ave

Groove at the Grove

10 tables of games include cards, board games, billiards, and more. If you have any questions, contact Grove Street Community Center at (828) 359-2062.

SA (5/27), 3pm, Grove St Community Center, 36 Grove St

Photographer Tim Barnwell

A presentation from Asheville-based photographer and author, Tim Barnwell. He is one of the most published photographers of the South has been a principal or contributing photographer to dozens of books. For questions, contact (828) 586-9499

SA (5/27), 3pm, City

Lights Bookstore, 3 E Jackson St, Sylva

Weekly Sunday Scrabble Club

No dues for the first three months.

SU (5/28), 12:15pm, Stephens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave

Femme And? Improv Comedy Workshop

Open to all femme and non-binary identifying people and all comedy levels. Ages 18+

SU (5/28), 1:30pm, Catawba Brewing Co. South Slope, 32 Banks Ave

Game Day: Perspective Café

Traditional game day with board and card games as well as refreshments from the Perspective Cafe.

SU (5/28), 2pm, Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

AmeriHealth Asheville: Computer Lab & Wi-Fi

Hours

Each Monday in May, we will be having computer hours as well as free Wi-Fi with 2 workspaces.

MO (5/29), 11am, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave

Sew Co./Rite of Passage Factory Tour

On this 30 minute micro-tour, learn about sustainable and transparent business practices and hear about production processes and client collaborations.

MO (5/29), 11am, Rite of Passage Clothing & SewCo, 240 Clingman Ave Ext.

Guardian ad Litem Volunteer Training

Learn how you can use your voice as a court advocate for abused and/or neglected children in Buncombe County.

MO (5/29), 1pm, First Baptist Church of Asheville, 5 Oak St

Chess Club

Open to all ages and any skill set. There will be a few boards available, but folks are welcome to bring their own as well.

MO (5/29), 4pm, Black Mountain Brewing, 131 NC-9, Black Mountain World Tavern Poker Poker night hosted by Nikkita.

MO (5/29), 7pm, The Getaway River Bar, 790 Riverside Dr

Incredible Towns Evening Social WNC’s largest free and independent Business Networking group, Incredible Business Networking (IBN) for IBN Evening Social. Open to all.

TU (5/30), 5:30pm, 12 Bones Brewery, 2350 Hendersonville Rd, Arden

Astrology: Through The Cosmos

In this 9 series workshop, you will learn to cultivate rich

relationships with the planets using the language of astrology ease-fully, invoking the planetary guides with ritual and learning how to translate their guidance intuitively.

TU (5/30), 6pm, Mountain Magic Studio, 3 Louisiana Ave

Pritchard Park Summer Series: Hoop & Flow Arts Jam

Asheville Hoops provides jammin’ tunes, demo props for all to use and a positive event that promotes movement, creativity, dance and fun. Hoop Jam season typically runs from the last week of May to the first week in August.

TU (5/30), 6pm, Pritchard Park, 4 College St Magic: The Gathering Learn & Play Sharpen your skills and battle it out with fellow gamers. We’ll provide the cards, but feel free to bring your own deck and show off your best moves.

TU (5/30), 7pm, Well Played, 162 Coxe Ave, Ste 101

AmeriHealth Asheville: Racial Justice Coalition & Carolina Day Meeting

Asheville's Racial

Justice meeting at the end of the month.

WE (5/31), 12:30pm, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave

Homeowner Training; Septic System Basics, Troubleshooting & Tips

Learn about the importance of wastewater treatment, an overview of treatment in an onsite system, typical onsite system features, final treatment and dispersal, management, maintenance, safety, and system troubleshooting.

WE (5/31), 6pm, DoubleTree by Hilton, 115 Hendersonville Rd

Train-the-Trainer: Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems

The purpose of this workshop is to provide professionals who work with communities served by onsite or decentralized wastewater systems with learning materials that can be customized to provide interactive education about OWTS., WE (5/31), 6pm, DoubleTree by Hilton, 115 Hendersonville Rd

Menopause Demystified Free two-hour seminar with guest speakers Dr. Melissa Robinson

MD and Amy Beane NP who will speak on the symptoms and treatment options of menopause. Followed by a Q&A session for anyone with questions.

For more information

email Sara at maidens@ gmail.com

WE (5/31), 6:20pm, Ebbs Chapel Performing Arts Center, 271 Laurel Valley Rd, Mars Hill

Embroiderers' Guild of America: Laurel Chapter

The program this month is about a Blue Ridge Mountains scene done in surface embroidery. It is a combination of layered tulle and standard embroidery stitches. Peggy O’Connor has designed the piece and will teach chapter members the techniques necessary to complete the project.

TH (6/1), 9:30am, Horse Shoe Community Church, 3 Banner Farm Rd, Mills River

David Miranda: Open Studio & Theorem of Apocryphal Manifestos

Mexican artist David Miranda creates a sound sequence that pays homage to the poets who shared their work in a creative exchange between Mexico and the United

States.

TH (6/1), 1pm, Revolve, 821 Riverside Dr, Ste 179

LOCAL MARKETS

RAD Farmers Market

Providing year-round access to fresh local foods, with 25-30 vendors selling a variety of wares. Handicap parking available in the Smoky Park lot, free public parking available along Riverside Drive. Also accessible by foot, bike, or rollerblade via the Wilma Dykeman Greenway.

WE (5/24, 31), 3pm, Smoky Park Supper Club, 350 Riverside Dr Weaverville Tailgate Market

A selection of fresh, locally grown produce, grass fed beef, pork, chicken, rabbit, eggs, cheese, sweet and savory baked goods, artisan bread, fire cider, coffee, pickles, body care, eclectic handmade goodies, and garden and landscaping plants. Open year round.

WE (5/24, 31), 3pm, 60 Lake Shore Dr Weaverville

Flat Rock Farmers Market

A diverse group of local produce and fruit

farmers, craft-food makers, bread bakers, wild crafters, art-crafters, and merrymakers.

Every Thursday through October 26.

TH (5/25, 6/1), 3pm, Pinecrest ARP Church, 1790 Greenville Hwy, Flat Rock

Pack Square Artisan Market

This market will showcase local handcrafted goods in the heart of downtown Asheville.

Every Friday through October 27.

FR (5/26), 1pm, 1 South

Pack Square Park

East Asheville Tailgate Market

Local goods from neighborhood vendors selling tamales, dumplings, baked goods, ferments, bread, artisan cheese, meat, flowers, farm fresh vegetables, and more. Every Friday through November.

FR (5/26), 3pm, Grose UMC, 954 tunnel Rd

Mora & Laura Wood Pop-Up

Mora, a gallery and contemporary jewelry shop, will be hosting a pop-up featuring local jeweler, Laura Wood. Her skill and artistry have made her wellknown in the art jewelry world.

FR (5/26), 4pm, SA

(5/27), 10am, SU (5/28), noon

Mora Contemporary Jewelry, 9 Walnut St

Saluda Tailgate Market

With over a dozen, this agriculture-only market features an assortment of homegrown produce, meat, and eggs within a 25 mile radius.

FR (5/26), 4:30pm, W Main St, Saluda

Henderson County Tailgate Market

Seasonal fruits, fresh mushrooms, vegetables, local honey, meat, eggs, garden plant starts, perennials and much more. Every Saturday through October 28.

SA (5/27), 8am, 100 N King St, Hendersonville Hendersonville Farmers Market

A vibrant community gathering space. With produce, meat, eggs, baked goods, coffee, crafts, food trucks, live music, kids' activities and more.

Every Saturday through October 28.

SA (5/27), 8am, 650 Maple St, Hendersonville

Mills River Farmers Market

Listen to local musicians as you shop the wide

variety of vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, and high-quality crafts. Every Saturday through October 28.

SA (5/27), 8am, Mills River Elementary School, 94 Schoolhouse Rd, Mills River

North Asheville Tailgate Market

The oldest Saturday morning market in WNC, since 1980. Over 60 rotating vendors offer fresh Appalachian grown produce, meats, cheeses and eggs - with a variety of baked goods, value added foods, and unique craft items. Weekly through Dec. 16.

SA (5/27), 8am, 3300 University Heights

Asheville City Market

Local food products, including fresh produce, meat, cheese, bread, pastries, and other artisan products. Weekly through Dec. 17.

SA (5/27), 9am, 52 N Market St

Black Mountain Tailgate Market

Featuring organic and sustainably grown produce, plants, cut flowers, herbs, locally raised meats, seafood, breads, pastries, cheeses, eggs and local arts and handcrafted items. Every Saturday

through November.

SA (5/27), 9am,130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

Mars Hill Farmers & Artisans Market

A producer-only tailgate market with fresh local produce, herbs, garden and landscape plants, cut flowers, cheeses, meats, eggs, baked goods, jams, honey, soaps, tinctures, crafts & more.

SA (5/27), 10am, College St, Mars Hill

The Elephant Door Makers Market

Hosting a variety of local crafts, artisans, creative talent and artists.

SA (5/27), 11am, The Elephant Door, 126 Swannanoa River Rd

WNC Farmers Market

High quality fruits and vegetables, mountain crafts, jams, jellies, preserves, sourwood honey, and other farm fresh items. Open daily 8am, year-round.

SU (5/28), 8am, 570 Brevard Rd

Meadow Market

Browse goods and gifts from local makers and artisans with different vendors every week, you’ll find specialty items. Shop for handmade jewelry, housewares, vintage

goods, and crafts.

SU (5/28), 1pm, Highland Brewing Co., 12 Old Charlotte Hwy, Ste 200

Tuesday Creative Market

Browse the wares from local makers and creatives.

TU (5/30), 4pm, Different Wrld, 701 Haywood Rd, Ste 101

Etowah Lions Club

Farmers Market

Fresh produce, honey, sweets, flowers, plant starts and locally crafted wares. Every Wednesday through October 25.

WE (5/31), 3pm, 447 Etowah School Rd, Hendersonville

Leicester Farmers Market

Farmers Market with over 30 vendors. Locally grown and sourced selection of meats, produce, eggs, plants and flowers, baked goods, cheese, honey, sauces, crafts, art, and more. Every Wednesday through October 25.

WE (5/31), 3pm, Leicester Community Center, 2979 New Leicester Hwy, Leicester

Enka-Candler Tailgate Market

A grand selection of local foods and crafts, everything from produce to pickles, baked goods to body care, with a hefty helping of made-to-order meals from our food trucks. Every Thursday through October.

TH (6/1), 3pm, A-B Tech Small Business Center, 1465 Sand Hill Rd, Candler

FESTIVALS & SPECIAL EVENTS

Asheville Beer Week

This multi-day, multi-venue event will be filled with old favorites and new events alike, including collaboration releases, film screenings, beer dinners, educational seminars, brewer meet and greets, and friendly brewery competitions. The weeklong celebration will run from Friday, May 19 through Sunday, May 27. For more information and the full Beer Week event calendar, visit avl.mx/coy WE (5/24), Multiple Locations, Citywide Bob Moog 89th Birthday Event w/ Patrick Gleeson

Am event celebration of Bob Moog's 89th birthday, featuring Patrick Gleeson. Gleeson is a musician, synthesizer pioneer, composer, and producer. He worked with Herbie Hancock in the early 1970s.

WE (5/24), 6:30pm, Citizen Vinyl, 14 O Henry Ave

44th Annual Griffin Awards

Celebrate the folks doing preservation work all over our community and enjoy a full dinner catered by Celine and Co. This event is hosted by Preservation Society of Asheville Buncombe.

TH (5/25), 5:30pm, The Hideaway, 49 Broadway St

Americana Burlesque

& Sideshow Festival: World Tarot Day Burlesque festival is coming back to the studio and stage for three days of class and sass with artists from all around the country.

On day one, tarot author Madame Onça will teach a Tarot for Everyone workshop.

TH (5/25), 6pm, Asheville Raven & Crone, 555 Merrimon Ave, Ste 100

Just Brew It: Homebrew Festival Kickoff Party Kickoff the fun with beer and economic justice related triva.

TH (5/25), 6pm, The Wedge at Foundation, 5 Foundy St GrindFest 2023

A block-party style festival that celebrates the success of Black entrepreneurs and business owners in Asheville. This three-day event includes a weekend full of music, games, live performance, food, local vendors, learning, employment and partnership opportunities. Visit avl.mx/bl2 for the full schedule. See p32

FR (5/26), SA (5/27), SU (5/28), 9am, Black Wall St AVL, 8 River Arts Place

16 Year Anniversary Party

Celebrating Maggie B's wine store anniversary with live music from the Firecracker Jazz Band, free wine tasting, food & drinks.

FR (5/26), 5pm, Maggie B's Wine and Specialty Store, 10 C S Main St, Weaverville

Far & Wide Tasting Event

Part of Asheville Beer Week, sample brews on draft and enjoy live music from Feline Conduits. Free to the public.

FR (5/26), 5pm, The Mule, 131 Sweeten Creek Rd Ste 10

Americana Burlesque & Sideshow Festival: Friday Speakeasy Seance

A whimsically dark Speakeasy Seance, with burlesque to live music from Brooklyn’s lovable goth darlings Charming Disaster.

18+

FR (5/26), 7:30pm, The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave

Hendersonville's Garden Jubilee Main Street will be filled with block

after block of plants, flowers, shrubs, trees, herbs, yard tools and outdoor accessories. There is no charge for admission or to attend the speaker series.

SA (5/27), SU (5/28) 9am, Downtown Hendersonville S Main St, Hendersonville

GrindFest w/Big Boi & Waka Flocka Flame

The celebration of BIPOC businesses and entrepreneurship. organized by Black Wall St AVL. This year in collaboration with Salvage Station they are bringing hip-hop royalty Big Boi & Waka Flocka Flame.

SA (5/27), 5pm, Salvage Station, 468 Riverside Dr

ABSFest: Americana Burlesque & Sideshow Festival

Burlesque and variety acts from all over the country to thrill, amaze and empower with aerials, live music, burlesque, curious vendors, and more. This year’s headliner is award-winning May Hemmer, the Cocoa Barbie.

SA (5/27), 7:30pm, Orange Peel, 101 Biltmore Ave

Annual Memorial Day Observance

Weaverville will hold its annual Memorial Day Observance at Lake Louise. Retired Master Chief Ed Moreno who served 30 years in the Navy before retiring to Weaverville will be a guest speaker.

MO (5/29), 11am, Lake Louise Park, Doan Rd, Weaverville

Memorial Day: A Live Ceromony (Black Mountain)

Memorial Day ceremony with Retired Marine

Lt. Gen. Walter E. Gaskin as the keynote speaker. The ceremony will also include a reading from the Brothers and Sisters

Like These Veteran Writing Group, Air Force Vietnam Veteran Jim Hernandez, and a 13 Folds-Flag Folding Ceremony presented by Army Vietnam Veteran and Purple Heart recipient Spider Trantham.

MO (5/29), 10am, Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery, 962 Old US Hwy, Black Mountain

Memorial Day: A Live Ceromony (Downtown)

Memorial Day ceremony with Retired Marine

Lt. Gen. Walter E. Gaskin as the keynote speaker. The ceremony will also include a reading from the Brothers and Sisters Like These Veteran Writing Group, Air Force Vietnam

Veteran Jim Hernandez and a 13 Folds-Flag Folding Ceremony presented by Army Vietnam Veteran and Purple Heart recipient

Spider Trantham. MO (5/29), 2pm, 1 South Pack Square Park

BENEFITS & VOLUNTEERING

Support Homeless

Veterans

This is an annual event, and helps serve American heroes in need through voluntary food and clothing donations. Please remember all donated items should be new and unused.

WE (5/24), 8am, Franklin VA Clinic, 647 Wayah St, Franklin 2023 Battle of the Badges

Battle of the Badges builds camaraderie among local first responders through a friendly competition to see who can recruit the most blood donors.

TH (5/25), 10am, Southwestern Community College, 447 College Dr, Sylva Battle of the Breweries Blood Drive Friendly blood Dr competition between breweries. All donors receive an AVL t-shirt, matching koozie, and brewery gift card.

TH (5/25), 2pm, Wicked Weed West, 145 Jacob Holm Way Candler

Artspace 100 x 100 Fundraiser

One hundred, 10"x10" boards have been distributed to artists who have created masterpieces in their chosen media. These works of art by established local artists, emerging professionals, and internationally acclaimed artists have been donated to the school and could be yours at the 100x100 gala. Proceeds suppport the Artspace Charter Schoo. SA (5/27), 4pm, Blue Spiral 1, 38 Biltmore Ave

Pisgah Legal Services Presents; An Evening For Kids Deserve Justice

An evening of community and celebration with food, drinks, music, and family fun at this mainly outdoor event for all ages. You’ll also have the chance to bid on exciting items in the silent auction. By participating, you contribute to Pisgah Legal’s Children’s Law Program which supports children in our communities.

WE (5/31), 4pm, Salvage Station, 468 Riverside Dr

Sweet Speaks: A Pride Month Kickoff

A benefit for Fierce Flix featuring a queer screening and a performance.

WE (5/31), 7pm, The Odd, 1045 Haywood Rd

Green thumbs &

In the clear

Experts tackle misunderstandings about Hep C treatment

BY JESSICA WAKEMAN

jwakeman@mountainx.com

In 2016, Maia Hughes decided to begin recovery after 13 years of substance abuse. But it wasn’t only substance use disorder she needed to address. She had also tested positive for hepatitis C, a virus that spreads through blood.

“I know some people that use drugs [intravenously] that are very careful — only use clean syringes, new supplies,” Hughes says. “I didn’t. I was so far into my addiction that I didn’t really care. If I was sick, it didn’t matter. I would use whatever syringe because I didn’t want to be sick.” She believes she knows the occasion when she contracted the virus.

Hughes waited until two years into her recovery to start treatment for the virus. “I already felt enough guilt and shame around using and still struggling with a lot of self-worth and embarrassment from 13 years of all that I had done,” she explains. “So

As HCV is an infectious disease linked to the opioid crisis, a patient’s current drug use can lead to stigma in health care settings, says Raymond Velazquez, director of prevention services at Western North Carolina AIDS Project. “A lot of providers in this area will not treat people for hep C while they’re using drugs,” he says. “It’s very important to treat the virus in this case — versus the person’s drug use — because that’s not why they’re there.”

WNCAP sends patients with HCV to providers who are capable of “respecting the individual as they are,” he explains, such as Dale Fell Health Center, the Asheville location of Appalachian Mountain Community Health Centers. These are federally qualified health centers that serve patients regardless of their ability to pay.

BETTER TREATMENTS

HCV primarily infects the liver. Symptoms, such as jaundice, sometimes don’t show for years or even decades — after which point, the liver is already damaged. (Hughes didn’t experience any symptoms.)

When HCV becomes a chronic infection, it can cause liver inflammation, cirrhosis (scar tissue developing on the liver), an increased risk of developing liver cancer and liver failure, leading to death. A vaccine for the virus doesn’t exist.

HCV can be transmitted through infected blood from a mother to her baby, or via tattoos or piercings with unsterilized equipment, blood transfusions or sharing syringes for injectable drugs.

It’s a misunderstanding that individuals experiencing addiction cannot begin treatment for HCV unless they’re in recovery. In 2020, North Carolina Medicaid lifted requirements that individuals getting treatment for HCV rent treatment for HCV causes unbearable side effects. Velazquez acknowledges that previous treatments “made individuals feel very sick … [it] was very hard on the body.” According to Healthline, the first treatment for HCV, called IFNa, debuted in the 1980s and led to side effects including nausea, vomiting, hair loss, depression and suicidal thoughts. A more effective treatment, RBV, arrived in the 1990s, but side effects included thyroid issues, anemia and psychosis.

The current treatments are direct-acting antivirals, and according to Healthline, they have moderate side effects, like fatigue. Velazquez says he encounters people through WNCAP’s harm reduction program who believe harsh medications are the only way to cure HCV. And Hughes believed that

ALL CLEAR: “I don’t have to worry about [hepatitis C] anymore or worry about it progressively getting worse,” says Maia Hughes, who sought treatment for HCV in 2018. She cleared the virus from her body after two months of taking medication. Photo courtesy of Hughes

herself. “I thought it was going to be this whole big ordeal,” she says. “And it wasn’t at all.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Viral Hepatitis, HCV is curable in over 95% of cases.

COST OF TREATMENT

According to a 2022 report on viral hepatitis in North Carolina from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, the state “observed a marked increase in acute hepatitis C cases” beginning in 2009. As of 2020, North Carolina had 72,552 individuals

with chronic HCV. In 2016, Buncombe County was identified as one of the “vulnerable counties” for the virus and was permitted to send HCV screenings for uninsured individuals to the state Laboratory of Public Health. Currently, all local health departments are allowed to do so.

Data indicated “some real alarming upticks in the amount of hep C-positive individuals in the state, in particular in WNC,” says CareReach Executive Director Joseph Jones. Recognizing that treatment navigation could be a barrier, in 2018, the N.C. Viral Hepatitis Program created a bridge counselor program. Buncombe welcomed a bridge counselor through CareReach that same year.

Most individuals come to CareReach already aware of their HCV diagnosis, says Sile. But people who haven’t been tested, and are being served by CareReach for another reason, are connected to local testing locations like Planned Parenthood South Atlantic Asheville Health Center, Mountain Area Health Education Center, Western North Carolina Community Health Services Minnie Jones Clinic and WNCAP. Often testing for HIV, another bloodborne virus, is also available.

Lab work gathers more information about the individual’s genotype (the genetic makeup of their blood) and their viral load. Individuals generally also receive eight-12 weeks’ worth of the daily medication, which is tailored to their genotype.

Paying for treatment is a concern for some clients. Jones wants prospective clients to know that “lack of insurance

Thanks for Voting!

VULNERABILITY: Data indicated “some real alarming upticks in the amount of hep C-positive individuals in the state, in particular in WNC,” says CareReach Executive Director Joseph Jones. Photo courtesy of Jones

shouldn’t be a barrier” to treatment and notes that “the vast majority” of his nonprofit’s clients are uninsured. Many of their referrals come through Homeward Bound or Julian F. Keith Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center. Sile can connect individuals to patient assistance programs at MAHEC and Blue Ridge Health, another federally qualified health center, which “will all treat for no or low cost,” Jones says.

Hughes says the costliest part of the process was a liver scan she had to undergo at a gastroenterologist prior to beginning treatment. She was able to pay in installments.

‘RELIEF’

Hughes says the relief she felt after learning she was cured of the virus was “huge.”

She continues, “I don’t have to worry about [HCV] anymore or worry about it progressively getting worse and causing more significant damage in the future.”

Now Hughes focuses on her career, maintaining her recovery and sharing her story at Narcotics Anonymous meetings. She is a certified peer support specialist with Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness, a community recovery organization, and she was previously the medication-assisted treatment coordinator at the Buncombe County Detention Center. Last year, alongside MAT services director Sarah Gayton, she received a 2022 Dogwood Award, which is awarded by the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners to individuals who help make their communities safer. X

Continuing legacy

New series spotlights Wilma Dykeman’s novels

BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN

earnaudin@mountainx.com

If you know the name Wilma Dykeman, odds are good that it’s due to her acclaimed works of nonfiction.

A Buncombe County native, her 1955 book, The French Broad, established Dykeman as a leading environmental activist, and 1957’s Neither Black nor White — co-written with her husband, James Stokely — added “civil rights activist” to her already impressive resumé.

But it’s Dykeman’s fiction that will be the focus of a new monthly summer discussion series at the West Asheville Library, beginning Thursday, May 25. Led by expert speakers, the talks will examine the novels The Tall Woman (1962), The Far Family (1966) and Return the Innocent Earth (1973) and seek to address topics near and dear to the late author.

Magical Offerings

PUTTING IN WORK

Dykeman’s son Jim Stokely and his wife, Anne, founded the Wilma Dykeman Legacy in 2012 as a nonprofit. The previous year, they’d retired and moved from Massachusetts to Weaverville to be close to Anne’s mother, whose health was declining. It was the right decision on a family level, but Jim was nevertheless concerned that the shadow of his mother’s celebrity might prove overwhelming for his wife, despite Dykeman having died in 2006 after returning to Buncombe County for her final years.

“Anne loved Wilma, and Wilma loved her, but what daughter-inlaw wants to spend her retirement [hearing] ‘Wilma Dykeman, Wilma Dykeman, Wilma Dykeman’?” Jim recalls. “But we got back, and it was the reverse. [Wilma] was a rock star back in the 1960s and ’70s, but in 2011, [her fans] were in assisted living or the alternative.”

Though the nonprofit has helped return Dykeman’s name to the broader public, its goal is not to honor the author but to sustain and promote environmental and social justice through the written and spoken word.

“She wouldn’t have wanted a bunch of people sitting around a circle, drinking tea and remembering Wilma,” Stokely says of his mother. “She would want her value areas to be sustained and moving.”

Just over a decade later, the Wilma Dykeman Legacy continues to operate on a modest scale. According to Stokely, who serves as the president of the board of directors, the organization averages a total of 100 Friends and $10,000 in annual donations, which allows the group to offer programs throughout the year.

Since 2015, the nonprofit has teamed up with the Thomas Wolfe Memorial to host a reading series, which runs January-April. Each month, a different Wolfe short story is read and discussed by participants. Another annual event, Dykeman’s birthday celebration, also offers a chance for the organization to connect with the community. This year’s happening took place May 20 in partnership with Black Wall Street, featuring performances by artists of color.

Meanwhile, every fall, the focus turns to nonfiction with the four-part “My Story: Great WNC Memoirs” series at the West Asheville Library, spotlighting

a different regional autobiography each month from September-December.

“But we’ve always varied what we’ve done in the summer, and sometimes we’ve just not done anything,” Stokely says. “This year, Dan [Clare, the nonprofit’s Written and Spoken Word program chair] suggested, ‘Why don’t we focus on Wilma’s novels? They need to be known.’ And I agree.”

ASSEMBLING THE TEAM

In pairing Dykeman’s works of fiction with discussion leaders, Stokely sought individuals whose own careers aligned with the subjects of each book.

Local novelist Vicki Lane, author of multiple Appalachian-set mysteries, including And the Crows Took Their Eyes, will kick off the series on May 25 with The Tall Woman Dykeman’s novel is set before, during and after the Civil War, and was written in part to help counteract negative Appalachian stereotypes perpetuated by the likes of daily cartoons “Snuffy Smith” and “Lil’ Abner.”

Stokely remembers his mother contemplating the story. Initially, she had plans of featuring a male mountaineer as the hero but shortly thereafter, she recast its protagonist as a heroine.

“And it turned into an Appalachian classic,” Stokely continues. “I remem-

ber seeing her being interviewed on ‘The Today Show’ for it. It was a big deal, and Lydia McQueen [the book’s protagonist] is one of the great characters in literature.”

Stokely himself will lead the discussion on The Tall Woman’s sequel, The Far Family, on June 22. He has fond memories of the novel’s creation, which took place while he and his brother were attending Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. By then, their mother’s profession was well known to them, but that wasn’t always the case during their childhood in Newport, Tenn.

“She was Super Mom [when we were young]. She made us scrambled eggs and bacon every morning before my brother and I walked to elementary school,” Stokely says. “We go, she works until 3 [p.m.], we come back, and she’s mom. We didn’t know she was a writer.”

The series concludes on July 27 with John Nolt’s discussion of Return the Innocent Earth. The professor emeritus in philosophy at the University of Tennessee is also a research fellow in the energy and environment program of the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy.

Stokely adds that Nolt and his wife “grow much of their own food in organic gardens, dry their clothes in a line, shun air conditioning, and,

FICTION FESTIVAL: Wilma Dykeman’s novels showcase a side of the author unknown to many people, including fans of her nonfiction. Photos courtesy of the Wilma Dykeman Legacy

with an array of solar panels, produce more electricity than they use.”

Nolt’s background makes him an excellent fit for Dykeman’s final novel, about a young man who works for a large corporation in the Midwest and returns to Tennessee in hopes of resolving an environmental disaster that’s resulted in a death due to toxic Brussels sprouts grown on his family’s farm. Like much of his mother’s work, Stokely considers the subject matter significantly ahead of its time.

“This came out in ’73,” he says. “We’re talking about people dying from agricultural sprays. It’s pretty interesting stuff.”

The book discussions take place in the West Asheville Library’s meeting room, where dual projection screens allow for virtual participation that Stokely promises will be on a level far exceeding the usual live broadcast experience.

“We do hybrid better than I’ve ever seen it done,” he says. “We actually bring the Zoomers into the meeting, so it takes more technology, more setup and more people, but it’s a true meeting.”

ROUNDING OUT THE LEGACY

While the focus on Dykeman’s fiction provides a creative inroad to the environmental and social justice at the heart of the author’s writing, it also provides a form of atonement for her son. Stokely recalls a day while home from his freshman year at Yale University in 1968 when his mother gathered the family into their Newport living room to read them the first chapter of what would become Return the Innocent Earth Once finished, she looked up from the pages and awaited feedback.

“I was like a really cool young man at the time — I knew everything there was to know,” Stokely says. “And I said, ‘This is really bad. It’s almost like child’s literature.’ And she started bawling.”

Though his father and brother agreed that it wasn’t Dykeman’s best work, Stokely says neither used language quite as vitriolic as his. Nevertheless, after a few minutes, the matriarch composed herself, wiped her nose with a tissue, and said, “Well, all right. I’ll throw this out and start again,” and wound up writing what become her favorite creation.

“She was a wonderful optimist — that was one of her greatest qualities. You just couldn’t get her down, not for long. Not for more than five minutes,” Stokely says. “I don’t have many regrets in life, but one regret I have is just being too arrogant as a young man.”

To learn more, visit avl.mx/coz. X

What’s new in food A

Feline fans can interact with cats while enjoying food and beverage in a new downtown cafe.

Cats at Play Café brought in its first batch of adoptable cats May 15, after experiencing a few delays.

Owners Clare Owensby and Lisa Fox say the main objective of the cafe is to serve as a support for local partners Brother Wolf Animal Rescue and Heart of the Foothills Animal Rescue, as all cats will be available for adoption. But the space will also allow cat lovers without cats of their own to enjoy some feline time. These interactions will socialize the cats and help humans as well — research shows that spending time with cats can reduce stress and anxiety levels and even lower blood pressure, says Owensby.

The cafe space is completely separate from the cat lounge, but you can bring food and drink purchased from the cafe into the cat lounge.

“While the main attraction is, of course, the cats, we’re really proud of our menu offerings as well,” says Owensby.

MerTails, a line of elixirs made from minerals, electrolytes, plants and herbs created by local herbalist Jillian Ashley, will be served. Other offerings include Meowtain Mylk, Pawt Chocolate and a selection of local goods such as matcha from Matcha Nude, coffee from Dynamite Roasting Co., tea from Asheville Tea Co., gelato from Sugar and Snow Gelato and prepackaged baked goods from West End Bakery. There will also be a fully stocked grab-and-go refrigerator with wine, local beer and nonalcoholic beverages such as hemp seltzers.

“Even if you’re not the biggest feline fan, we think our options in the cafe, both food and beverage, as well as local art and jewelry, are worthy of a visit,” says Owensby. “None of the food served at the cafe is prepared on-site, so while you’re welcome to enjoy it in the cat lounge, if you’d rather keep your tasty treat time and your cat time separate, feel free to enjoy them before or after your visit to the cat lounge.”

The owners plan to hold special events, such as cat yoga and movie nights with cats, and will be available for private parties as well.

The cafe is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday and Thursday through Saturday — and is closed Tuesday and Wednesday. The minimum age for guests is 10 and older, but those with children under 10 can inquire about booking a private event.

Cats at Play Cafe is at 12 Eagle St. For more information, visit avl.mx/cp5.

Pizza and poutine

Although Jasper Ieronimo , co-owner of North Asheville’s newest pizza place, says taco pizza might be his favorite, it’s the poutine pizza that was influenced by his heritage.

Ieronimo, who opened The Local Pizza Joint with his husband and Asheville native Chris Ieronimo in late April, was born in Montreal. “As a French Canadian, poutine is a staple,” he says. “We decided to marry our love of pizza and poutine and create what we feel is pretty special. With a gravy base, freshly fried French fries and gooey cheese, this pie is different!”

Ieronimo says the couple owned a pizza restaurant in the past, but the pandemic hit right after they opened and forced them to shut down. “It was bad timing,” he says. “I’ve been

cafe, with cats

in senior-level leadership for national brands for many years but never lost my desire to have a pizza joint again. We found the space by complete accident, and everything fell into place.

“We are asked every day if it is a franchise, and it is not,” Jasper continues. “We don’t plan to open additional locations, as we want this one to be special. We are happy to be a part of the amazing food community here.”

The New York-style pizzeria, which does primarily delivery and takeout, has seating for 28 and is open Monday through Thursday 3-11 p.m. and Friday through Sunday 3 p.m.-midnight.

The Local Pizza Joint is at 707 Merrimon Ave. For more information, visit avl.mx/cp3.

Hot dogs in Maggie Valley? Totally.

Valley

Dog, Maggie Valley’s ’80s-themed hot dog spot, opened at

HERE, KIT-TEA: Downtown Asheville’s first cat cafe — where patrons can enjoy sips, small bites and snuggles — opens this weekend. Photo by Andy Hall

the beginning of 2022 but moved last month into a new custom building, the hot dog shop of their dreams.

“I kid about how we broke [the old location] with all of the bunches of hot dog fans coming through,” jokes owner Mike Juliano. But the reality was that the shop needed to be in a brand-new space built from scratch.

He takes pride in creating the hot dogs and has 186 of them in rotation on the menu. “They are all my babies,” he says. “I have painstakingly created them one bite ... at a time. I go into the lab often.”

Juliano, who grew up in New Jersey but moved to Western North Carolina in 1997, has a background in opening and running luxury boutique hotels but always wanted to own a hot dog business.

“I grew up around them, visiting them on days I would spend with my grandfather — carts and little mom and pop ’divey’ places that have been in business forever,” he says.

Juliano says he went with an ’80s theme because they were some of his “fondest years.” “When my wife and I were deciding to do a shop here in Maggie Valley, we decided on the name Valley Dog, then thought of the Valley Girls of the ’80s — then the theme made sense. The restaurant gave me a chance to re-create my childhood bedroom, pretty much.”

“I eat hot dogs almost every day,” he says. “I had been looking for these hot dogs around here right up until we opened the shop. Now I know where to find them — these are the hot dogs I had been looking for.”

Valley Dog is at 2779 Soco Road, Maggie Valley. For more information, visit avl.mx/cp4.

Homesteading how-tos

On Wednesday, May 24, homesteader Ashley English will teach

her first class in a five-part homemade health and wellness series: “Jam, Sauce, Frozen, Vinegar and Quick Pickled Strawberries.”

The free classes, which will take place at 6 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of each month throughout the summer at the Enka-Candler Library, will be a combination of lecture and demonstration.

Classes offered are:

• June 28 — Perfect Picnics

• July 26 — Home Canning 101: Materials & Equipment, Methods, Safety, Storage, Favorite Seasonal Recipe

• Aug. 23 — Preserving Apples

• Sept. 27 — Natural Health: Bugs Away Insect Repellent, Boo Boo Goo, Sunburn Soother, Electrolyte Replenisher, Sleep Salve

English, who has lived in a forested cove in Candler since 2007, learned homesteading ways from her maternal grandmother. “Nanny owned and operated a u-pick blueberry farm,” she says. “She also had a large vegetable garden and kept chickens. It was from her that I learned to can and developed an enthusiasm and appreciation for gardening.”

“I love teaching in general and, specifically, teaching practical skills that offer the potential to enhance a person’s knowledge of and relationship with their homesteads and the natural world,” English adds. “The snafus I’ve had over my years of homesteading with bears in my beehives, unexpected deaths in my flock of laying hens, canning jars that failed to seal and limp, watery yogurt have served as their own teachers, enriching and furthering my understanding of the topics, which I’m then able to pass on to folks I teach.”

The Enka-Candler Library is at 1404 Sandhill Road, Candler. For more information, visit avl.mx/cp7.

Use code: Birthday30

— Andy Hall X

Around Town

Grindfest gears up for Memorial Day Weekend

Grindfest AVL will celebrate and promote Black-owned businesses with entertaining and professional events on Memorial Day weekend from Friday, May 26, through Sunday, May 28, in Asheville’s River Arts District.

“We’re excited to host Grindfest 2023 and provide a carnival-themed space where Black-owned businesses can shine,” says a Black Wall Street AVL spokesperson in a press release. “Our mission is to foster community and unity among Black residents and businesses in Asheville, while also educating the public about the history and significance of Black Wall Street.”

The free event, which begins at 10 a.m. each day, will feature a Black Wall Street marketplace where Black-owned businesses showcase their products and services, as well as a dance battle, hip-hop aerobics, a drag show and story times. Attendees can also enjoy food trucks, a beer garden and carnival games and rides.

On Friday, attendees can register for the Nonprofit Social Enterprise Summit, which takes place 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Black Wall Street building. The learning summit will offer a chance for nonprofits to network and share ideas. On Saturday at 6 p.m., rappers Big Boi, Waka Flocka Flame and Talib Kweli will perform in a special concert at Salvage Station.

The organizers are expecting 15,000 to attend the family-friendly festival.

Black Wall Street is at 8 River Arts Place. For more information, visit avl.mx/bl2.

Big Blue World

The new nonprofit Asheville Junior Theater will perform Finding Nemo Jr. at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts on Memorial Day weekend. The rights to the show were released in January, and this will be its Western North Carolina debut.

The show is Disney’s 60-minute musical adaptation of the 2003 Pixar film Finding Nemo.

“We are a boutique junior theater company who at the core believes that theater is a valuable tool for helping children discover who they are,” says AJT owner, producer and director Kelly Haas in a press release. “We give kids a focus and a purpose to show them what they are capable of with hard work and drive.”

Parents of the children in the company also get involved by donating at least 10 hours to each show, helping with costumes, sets and props. “AJT is a special place,” says parent Carla Delangre. “The fact that we all have to chip in to bring this show to life creates lifelong bonds among the children and the parents. As this show sparkles on the big stage, our family takes great pride in knowing that we helped turn our daughter’s dream into reality.”

Finding Nemo Jr. will be staged Saturday, May 27, at 2 and 6 p.m., and Sunday, May 28, at 2 p.m.

The Wortham Center for the Performing Arts is at 18 Biltmore Ave. For more information, visit avl.mx/cp8.

Home at last

Members of Asheville’s Steely Dan cover band, Dirty Logic, are no strangers to being on the road. The band is celebrating five years together in 2023.

With 11 people on stage, most of whom are also with nationally and locally touring local bands, scheduling and logistics are the group’s biggest challenges, says Jake Wolf, bassist.

“With so many in-demand players, we have had to work really hard to make sure we have the availability we need to book shows,” says Wolf. He says this makes the annual outdoor hometown show at Salvage Station even more special.

The band will play Steely Dan’s album Aja, which includes the song “Home at Last,” at the River Arts District venue on Thursday, June 1, at 7:30 p.m. The musicians will perform more selections by Steely Dan in a separate set.

“

Aja is one of our (and many people’s) favorites,” says Wolf. “It really signaled Steely Dan’s pivot from being a pop/classic rock band to something deeper, with more jazz sensibilities and more complex song structures.”

Wolf adds that with all of the “logistical gymnastics” and rehearsing that goes into their shows, he and the other band members feel especially rewarded when they play in Asheville.

“Hometown shows, especially outdoors at Salvage Station, are the most fun,” says Wolf. “We real -

ly try to pull out all the stops and put on an amazing show for our Asheville fans, many of whom are friends of the band and fellow musicians. Also, the Steely Dan fans are way into it! They come in costume and sing every word. It is a big treat for us.”

Salvage Station is at 468 Riverside Drive. For more information, visit avl.mx/cpb.

Folkmoot festival on hold

Due to financial constraints, Folkmoot’s 40th anniversary won’t be celebrated with its traditional international summer showcase.

At its peak, Waynesville-based Folkmoot — an organization created in 1983 to preserve and showcase local and world culture — hosted up to 10 international groups of dancers and musicians for two weeks in late July. After 9/11, visa issues and travel restrictions began to present challenges, and when the pandemic hit, the festival had to be shut down completely, and financial problems increased.

The board of directors has started a plan to stabilize the organization’s finances and increase revenue at the Friendship Center, where performances and special events are held in the auditorium. The center also

rents out space and houses local artist studios and offices.

“The board is dedicated and determined to make tough choices in order to protect the legacy of Folkmoot,” says Alan Fletcher, president of the Folkmoot board, in a press release. “We’ve made our rental spaces affordable for nonprofits and local artists and are doing all we can to keep the doors open. The mission of Folkmoot USA is to celebrate many cultures and champion arts, education, creative entrepreneurship and tradition.”

Folkmoot is currently planning a one-day festival as well as a summer fundraising soiree.

For more information, visit avl.mx/cp9.

Indigenous Writers’ Workshop

“Confluence: An Indigenous Writers’ Workshop” will be offered at no cost to citizens of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians by the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. Created in partnership with Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, author of the novel Even as We Breathe and MCI board member, the series of workshops offers EBCI citizens access to writing instruction from top Indigenous writers.

Clapsaddle says she is passionate about bringing more opportunities for writers to the Qualla Boundary, land purchased by the ECBI and kept in trust by the federal government. “For a tribe that has had a written language since it was formally adopted in 1825, this dearth of publications is startling,” she says in a press release.

“The Qualla Boundary can often feel isolated. Many of our citizens do not see a path toward pursuing writing, regardless of whether or not they are interested in publishing. Workshop opportunities are typically over an

hour’s drive away and often cost prohibitive. I strongly believe that the best way I can express my gratitude for being able to professionally pursue my love of writing is to help provide some of the same writing enrichment opportunities I have been given to this community which has given me so much support.”

This opportunity will be opened to the public if not filled. Each workshop has a capacity of 15 attendees and takes place over three days from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at the museum, with lunch provided.

Here is a schedule of workshops and presenters:

• May 26-28: Literary Fiction, Kelli Jo Ford (Cherokee Nation).

• June 16-18: Fiction, Andrea L. Rogers (Cherokee Nation).

• July 14-16: Poetry, Mary Leauna Christensen (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians).

• Nov. 17-19: Journalism, Rebecca Nagle (Cherokee Nation)’

For more information, visit avl.mx/cpc.

MOVIE REVIEWS

Local reviewers’ critiques of new films include:

MASTER GARDENER: Paul Schrader concludes his Man in a Room trilogy with this rich drama about a horticulturalist with a horrifying past. Grade: B-plus

— Edwin Arnaudin

— Andy Hall X

KEEP GRINDING: The annual Grindfest AVL will take place over Memorial Day weekend in the River Arts District. Photo courtesy of Black Wall Street AVL

Featuring Jeff Sipe (Drums), Mike Barnes (Guitar), Mark McDaniel (Bass)

For questions about free listings, call 828-251-1333, opt. 4.

SOVEREIGN KAVA

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24

27 CLUB

80's Prom (costume dance party), 9pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

Stand-Up Comedy

Open Mic, 8pm

ASHEVILLE PIZZA & BREWING CO. Trivia Trivia, 6:30pm

B-SIDES LOFT

Child of Night (darkwave, dark-techno), 8pm

BLACK MOUNTAIN BREWING

Jay Brown (roots, blues, jazz), 6pm

CROW & QUILL

Drayton & The Dreamboats (vintage-jazz, rock'n'roll), 8pm

FLEETWOOD'S Open Mic Wednesday Night, 7pm

FRENCH BROAD

BREWERY

Bluegrass Jam Wednesday, 6pm

HIGHLAND BREWING

CO.

Songwriter Series w/ Matt Smith, 6pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

Old Time Jam, 5pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

Latin Night w/DJ Mtn Vibez, 8:30pm

RABBIT RABBIT

Trivia Trivia, 7pm

SALVAGE STATION Filter w/Uncured & The Haunt (rock), 7pm

Poetry Open Mic, 8pm

THE BARRELHOUSE

Original Music Open Mic, 12am

THE FOUNDRY HOTEL

Shed Bugs (rock, blues, funk), 7pm

THE GREY EAGLE

Austin Meade (rock), 8pm

THE ODD

Tombstone Hwy, Systematic Devastation & Hellen's Bridge (stoner-metal, sludge-metal, punk), 7pm

TWIN LEAF BREWERY

Wednesday Open Mic, 5:30pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK

MOUNTAIN Irish Music Circle, 7pm

WICKED WEED

BREWING

Kipper's Totally Rad Trivia, 6pm

THURSDAY, MAY 25

27 CLUB Assimilation (multi-genre dance party), 10pm

ASHEVILLE BEAUTY

ACADEMY

Kiki Thursday: Drag Party w/DJ RexxStep, 9pm

ASHEVILLE GUITAR

BAR

The Tallboys (rock, reggae), 7:30pm

BLACK MOUNTAIN

BREWING

Hunter Begley (alt-country, folk), 6pm

FLEETWOOD'S True Lilith, Bad Ties & Ripped Tip (indie), 9pm

CLUBLAND

FRENCH BROAD

RIVER BREWERY

Jerry's Dead (Grateful Dead & JGB tribute), 6pm

GINGER'S REVENGE

SOUTH SLOPE

LOUNGE

Modelface Comedy: Good Cop & Rad Cop, 7pm

HIGHLAND BREWING

DOWNTOWN

TAPROOM

Not Rocket Science Trivia, 6pm

IMPERIÁL

Homage to The Soulquarians (neo-soul), 9pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

Bluegrass Jam w/Drew Matulich, 7:30pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO.

J. Dunks (Americana), 7pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

The Lumpy Heads (Phish tribute), 9pm

ONE WORLD BREWING

Andy Ferrell (folk, blues, bluegrass), 8pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

Off World Vehicle (space-rock), 8pm

PULP

Standup Comedy

Feature & Open Mic, 8pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA

Stand Up Comedy for Your Health, 8pm

STATIC AGE RECORDS

Silver Doors w/Watches & Impending Joy (garage-rock, psych, dad-rock), 8pm

THE BUSH FARMHOUSE

African Music Nights, 6pm

THE GREY EAGLE

• Patio: Moon Water (Americana, roots, country), 4pm

• Kaleta & Super Yamba

Band (Afro-beats, psych, funk), 7pm

THE ODD

Queer County Night:

Dani-Rae Clark, Connie

Page Henshaw & Rachel

Angel, 7pm

THE ROOT BAR

Kendra & Friends (multiple genres), 6pm

TWIN LEAF BREWERY

Thursday Night Karaoke, 8:45pm

VOTED WNC #1 KAVA BAR

URBAN ORCHARD Trivia Thursday, 7pm

URBAN ORCHARD

CIDER CO. SOUTH SLOPE

Latin Dancing Night w/ DJ, 8:30pm

WICKED WEED BREWING

Dan Shearin (indie, folk), 6pm

FRIDAY, MAY 26

12 BONES BREWERY

Myron Hyman (classic-rock, blues, country), 6pm

27 CLUB

Asava, Elderbug & Weight Shift (alt-rock, metal, grunge), 8pm

ASHEVILLE BEAUTY

ACADEMY

Venus House Party, 10pm

ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR

Mr Jimmy's Friday Night Blues, 7:30pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Hot Mess Bday w/ Check Your Head, Hot Girl Hoedown & Push/ Pull (multiple genres), 9pm

BLACK MOUNTAIN

BREWING

Cuberow (soul, indie), 6pm

BOTANIST & BARREL

TASTING BAR + BOTTLE SHOP

Chris Norred (jazz), 6pm

CATAWBA BREWING

CO. SOUTH SLOPE

ASHEVILLE

• Comedy at Catawba: Ayanna Dookie, 7pm

• Summer Vacation:

A Stand Up Comedy Adventure, 9:30pm

CORK & KEG

Old Time Jam, 8pm

DIFFERENT WRLD

Haus of Jane Burlesque, 8pm

FLEETWOOD'S Easter Island, Slow Teeth & Zillicoah (dream-pop, post-punk, Appalachian), 9pm

GINGER'S REVENGE

CRAFT BREWERY & TASTING ROOM

Chris Wayne (Americana, blues, rockabilly), 6pm

HIGHLAND BREWING

DOWNTOWN

TAPROOM Hazel (piano), 7pm

IMPERIÁL

DJ Short Stop (soul, latin, dance), 9pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

• Honky-Tonk Fridays w/Jackson Grimm, 4pm

• Charlotte Bluegrass

All-Stars (bluegrass, newgrass), 9pm

LA TAPA LOUNGE

Open Mic Night w/ Hamza, 8pm

NEW BELGIUM BREWING CO.

What's In The Box?, 7pm

NOBLE CIDER & MEAD

TAPROOM AND PRODUCTION FACILITY Crisp Comedy, 8pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING

CO.

Circuit Breakers (altrock), 8pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

Free Dead Friday w/Gus & Phriends, 5pm

ONE WORLD BREWING

5J Barrow Friday Nights (folk), 8pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

Jamie Hendrickson Quartet w/Rebekah

Todd (psych, funk), 8pm

RABBIT RABBIT

Live DJ & Silent Disco, 6pm

SALVAGE STATION

The Dave Matthews Tribute Band, 7pm

SHILOH & GAINES

Chilltonic (alt-rock, hip-hop, folk),

RABBIT RABBIT RETURNS: Outdoor concerts are back at Rabbit Rabbit, with alternative-indie band Hippo Campus taking the stage Saturday, May 27, at 7 p.m. Photo by Shervin Lainez

SILVERADOS

Blackberry Smoke w/ Georgia Thunderbolts (Southern-rock), 7pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA

Nige Hood & Kata Lite (hip-hop, alternative), 9pm

STATIC AGE RECORDS

Pamela & Her Sons w/Charli Jasper (experimental, noise, electronic), 8pm

THE MEADOW AT HIGHLAND BREWING

CO.

The Late Shifters (Southern-rock, Appalachian, Americana), 7pm

THE ODD

Asheville After Dark

Presents: Perversions (adult & kink-friendly), 8pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

Jacqueline Novak: Get On Your Knees, 6pm

THE OUTPOST

Frances Eliza (jazz, indie-folk, pop), 6pm

THE RAILYARD BLACK MOUNTAIN

Dirty Dawg (acoustic), 6pm

URBAN ORCHARD

CIDER CO. SOUTH SLOPE

DJ Cousin TL (hip-hop), 5pm

WXYZ BAR AT ALOFT

Dirty Bird (funk, blues, rock), 7pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN

Queen Bee & The Honeylovers (swing, jazz, Latin), 8pm

SATURDAY, MAY 27

27 CLUB

Spreadloves, Skull

Servant & Primordial Tides (alt-rock, psych, metal), 8pm

ASHEVILLE BEAUTY

ACADEMY

Cosmo Dance Party, 10pm

ASHEVILLE CLUB

Mr Jimmy (blues), 7pm

ASHEVILLE GUITAR

BAR

Vince Junior Band (blues, Appalachian soul), 7:30pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

Pathwey, Medisin, Pots & Pans, & ElyKyle (dance, electronic), 9pm

BLACK MOUNTAIN BREWING

Andy Ferrell (folk, roots, Appalachian), 6pm

CORK & KEG

Zaydeco Ya Ya (Cajun, Zaydeco), 8pm

DIFFERENT WRLD

Conversion Therapy w/ Boys_Camp, 9pm

FLEETWOOD'S

Bonny Dagger, Safe

Word & Small Doses (punk-rock), 8pm

GINGER'S REVENGE

SOUTH SLOPE

LOUNGE

• Aunt Vicki (indie-rock), 4pm

• Modelface Comedy: Good Cop & Rad Cop, 7pm

HIGHLAND BREWING

DOWNTOWN

TAPROOM The Letter Show (Americana), 7pm

IMPERIÁL

DJ Nex Millen (hip-hop, funk, R&B), 9pm

JACK OF THE WOOD

PUB

• Nobody's Darling

String Band, 4pm

• Heavenly Vipers (honky-tonk, jazz, Americana), 9pm

LA TAPA LOUNGE

Karaoke Night, 9pm

NOBLE CIDER

DOWNTOWN

Don't Tell Comedy: Asheville, 7pm

OKLAWAHA

BREWING CO.

Abbey Elmore Band (indie-rock, pop), 8pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

• Laura Blackley & The Wildflowers (country, blues, rock), 4pm

• Cosmic Jokes Comedy Show, 8pm

RABBIT RABBIT

Hippo Campus w/Gus Dapperton (alt-indie, pop), 5:30pm

ROADMASTER STAGE

Moon Water (Americana, roots, country), 7:30pm

SHILOH & GAINES

Velvet Truckstop w/ Tony Cedras (Southern-rock, Americana), 9pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA

Lo Wolf, Darien Crossley '& Special Guests (multiple genres), 9pm

STATIC AGE RECORDS

Cloakroom, Axxa/ Abraxas & Soot (indie-rock, shoegaze, kraut-rock), 8pm

THE BURGER BAR

Best Worst Karaoke w/ KJ Thunderk*nt, 9pm

THE GREY EAGLE

• Patio: Dirty French Broads (Americana, bluegrass), 5pm

• Glass Cannon Live (comedy), 7pm

THE MEADOW AT HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Orange Constant (vintage-rock, pop), 6pm

THE ODD Party Foul Drag: Saturday Night Tease, 7pm

THE OUTPOST

Stone Jack Ballers (Grateful Dead tribute), 6pm

WXYZ BAR AT ALOFT

DJ Molly Parti (tri-hop, edm, R&B), 7pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN

The Kenny Rogers Band (country, folk), 8pm

SUNDAY, MAY 28

ASHEVILLE PIZZA & BREWING CO.

Standup Comedy Feature & Open Mic, 6:30pm

CATAWBA BREWING CO. SOUTH SLOPE ASHEVILLE

Comedy at Catawba: Andie Main, 6pm

FLEETWOOD'S

Search & Destroy Punk Karaoke, 8pm

FRENCH BROAD

RIVER BREWERY

Reggae Sunday w/ Chalwa, 3pm

HIGHLAND

DOWNTOWN

TAPROOM

Mr Jimmy Duo (blues), 1pm

IMPERIÁL

DJ Mad Mike, 9pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

• Bluegrass Brunch, 1pm

• Traditional Irish Jam, 3:30pm

ASHEVILLE BEAUTY

ACADEMY

Life’s a Drag Brunch, 12pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO.

Imij of Soul (Jimi Hendrix tribute), 7pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

• Sunday Jazz Jam, 1:30pm

• Drip A Silver (Grateful Dead tribute), 6pm

SALVAGE STATION

Nattali Rize w/Minori (reggae), 7pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA

Aaron Woody Wood (Appalachia, soul, Americana), 7pm

THE GREY EAGLE

• Patio: Drunken Prayer (Americana), 4pm

• Asheville Ruedx Timbalive Social (Cuban, Latin), 8pm

THE MEADOW AT HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

Peggy Ratusz & Daddy

Longlegs (blues, rock), 2pm

THE ODD

Nightmare of Noise, Emotron & Dot Com

Bubble (electronic, psych, grind), 8pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

Emily King w/Joseph Solomon (R&B), 7pm

THE OUTPOST

Phuncle Sam (Grateful Dead tribute), 3pm

MONDAY, MAY 29

27 CLUB

Monday Karaoke, 9pm HAIKU I DO

Don’t Tell Comedy: Biltmore Village, 7pm

HAYWOOD COUNTRY CLUB

Taylor Martin's Open Mic Mondays, 6:30pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

Totally Rad Trivia w/ Mitch Fortune, 6pm

IMPERIÁL

DJ Short Stop (soul, latin, dance), 9pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

Quizzo! Pub Trivia w/ Jason Mencer, 7:30pm

NOBLE CIDER

DOWNTOWN Freshen Up Comedy Open Mic, 6:30pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO.

It Takes All Kinds Open Mic Nights, 7pm

ONE WORLD BREWING Open Mic Downtown, 8pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

Mashup Mondays w/ The JLloyd Mashup Band, 8pm

THE JOINT NEXT DOOR

Mr Jimmy & Friends (blues), 7pm

THE MEADOW AT HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

The Asheville Jazz Orchestra, 2pm

TUESDAY, MAY 30

5 WALNUT WINE BAR

CaroMia, Rahm, Daniel Iannuci & Jaze Uries (soul, R&B, folk), 8pm

ASHEVILLE BEAUTY

ACADEMY

• Trivia w/Drag Queens, 8pm

• Karaoke w/Ganymede, 10pm

IMPERIÁL

DJ Mad Mike, 9pm

LITTLE JUMBO

Jay Sanders, Zack Page & Alan Hall (jazz), 7pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO.

Team Trivia, 7pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

The Grateful Family Band Tuesdays (Dead tribute, jam band, rock), 6pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA

Weekly Open Jam hosted by Chris Cooper & Friends, 6:30pm

STATIC AGE RECORDS

Armageddon Time (metal), 8pm

THE BURGER BAR

Trivia, 9:30pm

THE ODD Open Mic Comedy, 8pm

TWIN LEAF BREWERY

Tuesday Night Trivia, 7pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK

MOUNTAIN

White Horse Open Mic, 7pm

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Stand-Up Comedy

Open Mic, 8pm

ASHEVILLE PIZZA & BREWING CO. Trivia Trivia, 6:30pm

BLACK MOUNTAIN

BREWING

Jay Brown (roots, blues, jazz), 6pm

DIFFERENT WRLD

Queer Comedy Party

w/Hayley Ellman & Kevin Delgado, 8pm

FLEETWOOD'S Open Mic Wednesday Night, 7pm

FRENCH BROAD

BREWERY

Bluegrass Jam Wednesday, 6pm

FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY

Jerry's Dead (Grateful Dead & JGB tribute), 6pm

HIGHLAND BREWING

CO.

Songwriter Series w/ Matt Smith, 6pm

JACK OF THE WOOD

PUB

Old Time Jam, 5pm

ONE WORLD

BREWING WEST

Latin Night w/DJ Mtn Vibez, 8:30pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA Poetry Open Mic, 8pm

STATIC AGE RECORDS

Tympanic Rupture, Natural Blk Invention, Salamander Sam (harshnoise, techno), 8pm

THE BARRELHOUSE

Original Music Open Mic, 8pm

THE FOUNDRY HOTEL

Shed Bugs (rock, blues, funk), 7pm

TWIN LEAF BREWERY

Wednesday Open Mic, 5:30pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Irish Music Circle, 7pm

THURSDAY, JUNE 1

ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY

Kiki Thursday: Drag Party w/DJ RexxStep, 9pm

ASHEVILLE GUITAR

BAR

Suzie Brown & Scot Sax (folk-pop), 8pm

BLACK MOUNTAIN BREWING

Chris Jamison (Americana, folk), 6pm

DIFFERENT WRLD

BNNY (indie-rock), 8pm

FLEETWOOD'S Knifeplay, Tombstone

Poetry & Haunt3d (shoegaze, garagepunk, folk), 8:30pm

FRENCH BROAD

RIVER BREWERY

Jerry's Dead (Grateful Dead & JGB tribute), 6pm

HIGHLAND BREWING

DOWNTOWN TAPROOM

Not Rocket Science Trivia, 6pm

IMPERIÁL

Homage to J Dilla w/ Nex Millen, 9pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

Bluegrass Jam w/Drew Matulich, 7:30pm

LA TAPA LOUNGE

Iggy Radio (Southern-rock), 7pm

NEW BELGIUM

BREWING CO.

Divine Intervention: The Game Show, 7pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO.

Two Step Too (Americana, country, blues), 7pm

ONE WORLD BREWING

Whitney Monge (alt-rock, indie, soul), 8pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

Elefante (jazz, funk), 8pm

SALVAGE STATION

Dirty Logic Plays Aja (A Steely Dan tribute band), 6pm

THE GREY EAGLE

• Patio: Taylor Ashton (old-time, Celtic, folk), 4pm

• Leith Ross (indie-rock, pop), 7pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

Scott Seiss (comedian), 7pm

THE ROOT BAR

Kendra & Friends (multiple genres), 6pm

URBAN ORCHARD

Trivia Thursday, 7pm

URBAN ORCHARD

CIDER CO. SOUTH SLOPE

Latin Dance Night, 8:30pm

WICKED WEED BREWING

Mike & Amy (indie, folk), 6pm

WRONG WAY

CAMPGROUND

Don't Tell Comedy: West Asheville, 7pm

FREEWILL ASTROLOGY BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19): My reading of the astrological omens inspires me to make a series of paradoxical predictions for you. Here are five scenarios I foresee as being quite possible in the coming weeks. 1. An epic journey to a sanctuary close to home. 2. A boundary that doesn’t keep people apart but brings them closer. 3. A rambunctious intervention that calms you down and helps you feel more at peace. 4. A complex process that leads to simple clarity. 5. A visit to the past that empowers you to redesign the future.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Do you want a seed to fulfill its destiny? You must bury it in the ground. There, if it’s able to draw on water and the proper nutrients, it will break open and sprout. Its life as a seed will be over. The plant it eventually grows into will look nothing like its source. We take this process for granted, but it’s always a miracle. Now let’s invoke this story as a metaphor for what you are hopefully on the verge of, Taurus. I invite you to do all that’s helpful and necessary to ensure your seed germinates!

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Your meandering trek through the Unpromised Land wasn’t as demoralizing as you feared. The skirmish with the metaphorical dragon was a bit disruptive, but hey, you are still breathing and walking around — and even seem to have been energized by the weird thrill of the adventure. The only other possible downside was the new dent in your sweet dream. But I suspect that in the long run, that imperfection will inspire you to work even harder on behalf of your sweet dream — and this will be a blessing. Here’s another perk: The ordeal you endured effectively cleaned out stale old karma, freeing up space for a slew of fresh help and resources.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Testing time is ahead, but don’t get your nerves in an uproar with fantasy-spawned stress. For the most part, your challenges and trials will be interesting, not unsettling. There will be few if any trick questions. There will be straightforward prods to stretch your capacities and expand your understanding. Bonus! I bet you’ll get the brilliant impulse to shed the ball and chain you’ve been absent-mindedly carrying around with you.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Biologist Edward O. Wilson said that the most social animals are ants, termites and honeybees. He used the following criteria to define that description: “altruism, instincts devoted to social life, and the tightness of the bonds that turn colonies into virtual superorganisms.” I’m going to advocate that you regard ants, termites, and honeybees as teachers and role models for you. The coming weeks will be a great time to boost your skill at socializing and networking. You will be wise to ruminate about how you could improve your life by enhancing your ability to cooperate with others. And remember to boost your altruism!

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Jack Sarfatti is an authentic but maverick physicist born under the sign of Virgo. He suggests that if we make ourselves receptive and alert, we may get help from our future selves. They are trying to communicate good ideas to us back through time. Alas, most of us don’t believe such a thing is feasible, so we aren’t attuned to the potential help. I will encourage you to transcend any natural skepticism you might have about Sarfatti’s theory. As a fun experiment, imagine that the Future You has an important transmission for you — maybe several transmissions. For best results, formulate three specific questions to pose to the Future You.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I have five points for your consideration. 1. You are alive in your mysterious, endlessly interesting life, and you are imbued with the fantastically potent power of awareness. How could you not feel thrilled?

2. You’re on a planet that’s always surprising, and you’re in an era when so many things are

changing that you can’t help being fascinated. How could you not feel thrilled? 3. You have some intriguing project to look forward to, or some challenging but engaging work you’re doing, or some mind-bending riddle you’re trying to solve. How could you not feel thrilled? 4. You’re playing the most enigmatic game in the universe, also known as your destiny on Earth, and you love ruminating on questions about what it all means. How could you not feel thrilled? 5. You never know what’s going to happen next. You’re like a hero in an epic movie that is endlessly entertaining. How could you not feel thrilled?

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Trust those that you have helped to help you in their turn,” advises Scorpio author Neil Gaiman. Let’s make that one of your mantras for the coming weeks. In my astrological understanding, you are due to cash in on favors you have bestowed on others. The generosity you have expressed should be streaming back your way in abundance. Be bold about welcoming the bounty. In fact, I hope you will nudge and prompt people, if necessary, to reward you for your past support and blessings.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): So many of us are starved to be listened to with full attention. So many of us yearn to be seen and heard and felt by people who are skilled at receptive empathy. How many of us? I’d say the figure is about 99.9 percent. That’s the bad news, Sagittarius. The good news is that in the coming weeks, you will have an exceptional ability to win the attention of good listeners. To boost the potential healing effects of this opportunity, here’s what I recommend: Refine and deepen your own listening skills. Express them with panache.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Because you’re a Capricorn, earthiness is probably one of your strengths. It’s your birthright to be practical and sensible and well-grounded. Now and then, however, your earthiness devolves into muddiness. You get too sober and earnest. You’re bogged down in excess pragmatism. I suspect you may be susceptible to such a state these days. What to do? It may help if you add elements of air and fire to your constitution, just to balance things out. Give yourself a secret nickname with a fiery feel, like Blaze, or a crispy briskness, like Breezy. What else could you do to rouse fresh, glowing vigor, Breezy Blaze — even a touch of wildness?

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I love to use metaphors in my writing, but I hate to mix unrelated metaphors. I thrive on referring to poetry, sometimes even surrealistic poetry, but I try to avoid sounding like a lunatic. However, at this juncture in your hero’s journey, Aquarius, I frankly feel that the most effective way to communicate with you is to offer you mixed metaphors and surrealist poetry that border on sounding lunatic. Why? Because you seem primed to wander around on the edges of reality. I’m guessing you’ll respond best to a message that’s aligned with your unruly mood. So here goes: Get ready to surf the spiritual undertow all the way to the teeming wilderness on the other side of the cracked mirror. Ignore the provocative wasteland on your left and the intriguing chaos on your right. Stay focused on the stars in your eyes and devote yourself to wild joy.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “The gift of patience opens when our body, heart, and mind slow enough to move in unison.” So says Piscean poet Mark Nepo. I feel confident you are about to glide into such a grand harmony, dear Pisces. Through a blend of grace and your relaxed efforts to be true to your deepest desires, your body, heart, and mind will synchronize and synergize. Patience will be just one of the gifts you will receive. Others include: a clear vision of your most beautiful future; a lucid understanding of what will be most meaningful to you in the next three years; and a profound sense of feeling at home in the world wherever you go.

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SERVICES

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

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NATIONAL PEST CONTROL

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this property must contact the Asheville Police Department within 30 days from the date of this publication. Any items not claimed within 30 days will be disposed of in accordance with all applicable laws. For further information, or to file a claim, contact the Asheville Police Department Property & Evidence Section at 828232-4576.

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COUNSELING SERVICES

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UNCLAIMED/RECEIVED

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NATURAL ALTERNATIVES

FIREARMS

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ACROSS

1 Leader of the world’s smallest nation (“An Essay on Man”)

5 Procedure fee

10 Loaded (“Diving Into the Wreck”)

14 Actor Wilson

15 Opposite of mainstream

16 ___ breve (2/2 time)

17 Potentially insulting, for short

18 Prefix with meter, to a versifier

19 Junket

20 Kathmandu residents

22 Went effortlessly

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24 Situation of intense conflict

25 Many a craft brew, informally

27 Restless

28 Volatile state of affairs

31 Press releases?

34 ___ Estby, Norwegian-born U.S. suffragist

35 Meal starter, maybe

39 Sushi topper

40 Didn’t abstain

42 Inflation meas.

43 Cry of denial

45 Prod with a stick, say

47 Westminster Abbey section hinted at by this puzzle’s architecture

51 Secretly loops in, in a way

53 Big commotion

54 Major crop in Nigeria

57 Address to click

58 1990s hit with the line “keep playing that song, all night”

60 Got the picture

61 Not cramped

63 Antitraffic org.

64 Prokaryotic model organism

66 “S.N.L.” alum Pedrad

67 Open about one’s sexuality, say

68 Bass staff symbol

69 Drinking vessel that may have a lid (“Sacred Emily”)

70 Device that might say “In two miles …”

71 Coat put on when it’s cold? (“Mending Wall”)

DOWN

1 Use a hammer on (“In a Station of the Metro”)

2 One with a deed

3 Pig of children’s TV

4 Sets up tents

5 ___ Field (Shea Stadium successor)

6 Not competitive

7 Summer hrs. in Sonoma

8 Freight in flight

9 Vintage

10 All-important numbers for TV execs

11 Competitor’s concession

12 This puzzle has 78 of them

13 Able to weather difficult conditions (“Channel Firing”)

21 Mekong Valley language

23 Abu Dhabi’s grp.

26 New Orleans N.B.A. team, informally

29 Expression of befuddlement

30 Ikea founder Ingvar ___

31 Nest egg letters

32 Conjunction used three times in the first line of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 65

33 Not leave unattended

36 Aria, typically

37 “God Bless the ___”

38 Place to retire in a hurry?

40 Groundbreaker?

41 Ages and ages

44 Discouraging words

46 Critically important

48 Vegan cookout option

49 Occur in conversation

50 “Well, darn!”

51 Incinerates (“To a Mouse”)

52 Dubrovnik resident 55 Bucks, boars and bulls

56 Fleet-footed (“A Maypole”)

58 “How Firm a Foundation,” for one 59 “Survivor” host Probst 62 Customizable Nintendo avatar 65 “Proud Mary” band, in brief