Mountain Xpress 06.03.20

OUR 26TH YEAR OF WEEKLY INDEPENDENT NEWS, ARTS & EVENTS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA VOL. 26 NO. 45 JUNE 3-9, 2020

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C O NT E NT S

NEWS

FEATURES

Accounting Office Management

11 PREPARING FOR THE WORST Campbell proposes 2021 Asheville budget

Asheville Raven & Crone Asheville Staffing Resources Black Bear BBQ Bottle Riot / formerly District Wine Bar City of Asheville Employment City of Asheville Sanitation Father and Son Home Improvement Franny’s Farm

FEATURE

Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company

14 COVID CONVERSATIONS How a local doula, a musician and a college student are navigating the new normal

18 HIGH ANXIETY Expanded programs support behavioral health issues during pandemic

Leaders of local private colleges and universities are staying positive about evolving plans to reopen this fall as they juggle concerns about finances and the health and safety of students, faculty and staff.

COVER PHOTO Courtesy of Brevard College COVER DESIGN Scott Southwick 5 LETTERS 5 CARTOON: MOLTON 6 CARTOON: IRENE OLDS 7 CARTOON: BRENT BROWN 8 NEWS 11 BUNCOMBE BEAT 13 BIZ BRIEFS

GREEN

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WELLNESS

Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce

PAGE 8 COME THE FALL

20 SOLAR ENERGY DUSTUP Small firms claim exclusion from local public solar process

14 COVID CONVERSATIONS 16 ASHEVILLE ARCHIVES 17 COMMUNITY CALENDAR 18 WELLNESS

Givens Gerber Park

Highland Brewing Co. Ingles Markets Inc.

FOOD

Gotta Have It Antiques and Vendor’s Market

20 GREEN ROUNDUP 23 SPECIAL DELIVERY Kickback AVL keeps it local

Musician’s Workshop

27 SMART BETS 29 COVIDTOWN CRIER

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24 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 28 MOVIES

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22 FOOD

24 TAKE A TURN Local art class leaders meet COVID-19 challenges with creativity

30 FREEWILL ASTROLOGY 30 CLASSIFIEDS 31 NY TIMES CROSSWORD

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

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OPINION

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CARTO ON BY R A ND Y MOL T O N

The freedom to stay healthy Weaverville decided to disregard the Buncombe County ordinance to require the wearing of masks in businesses to prevent the spread of disease. Mayor Al Root told me in an email that it was just “urging folks to follow all health guidelines instead of issuing an unenforced mandate drawing attention to only one health issue.”

Another mandate is to require employees to wash their hands after using the toilet to avoid the spread of disease. So it is fair to ask if that will still be followed or is that ordinance just another act of tyranny against freedom? Is that also unenforced in Weaverville? Should we just stay home if we don’t want to risk those diseases either?

We also have the freedom to spend our money where we wish. Let’s spend our money in places and in businesses that willingly follow the ordinances/ laws that protect our families. We want the freedom to stay healthy.

For those telling us to just stay home, be careful what you wish for.

Local businesses will be depending on people like me and my local family, neighbors and friends to spend money until the out-of-area tourists come back. We will be there in the recovery for those who were there for us now. Just because we don’t protest doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of us

watching who has our backs and who does not.

— James Vaughn Asheville

A tip for those awaiting unemployment benefits I think my story will interest your readers and other people in my position.

I have lived and worked in North Carolina since 2015. I have been employed full time by the same locally owned toy store for almost three years now and was temporarily laid off at the end of March due to COVID-19. I applied [for unemployment benefits] as soon as I could and was found “ineligible” almost immediately with no explanation as to why.

After weeks of multiple application attempts and denials with the Division of Employment Security, I was able to receive one payment for the first week of April. I have been out of work for eight weeks now and have been unable to get in contact with anyone to receive the other seven weeks. To add insult to injury, the other day I received a letter stating that the one week of benefits I did receive was an “overpayment,” and DES requires that money back.

Between the dates of March 31 and May 15, I have sat on the phone for well over 12 hours and have contacted DES countless times. I have never spoken with a human at DES, and I am still calling as I type this out.

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OPI N I ON

Sweeten Creek Antiques 31,000 square feet with 125 vendors offering everything from stylized vignettes to the picker’s paradise. Items include antiques and collectibles, furniture, vintage clothing and accessories, books, jewelry, vinyl records, art and lighting. Sweeten Creek Antiques has something for every person, every home and every budget. Well behaved pets are welcome. Business hours are 11am to 5pm Monday through Saturday and Noon to 5pm Sunday.Masks are required for our safety and yours. sweetencreek115@aol.com sweetencreekantiques.net 828-277-6100 | 828-450-5402 115 Sweeten Creek RD, Asheville

Gotta Have It Antiques A vendors’ market consisting of 3 large buildings and outdoor space that houses 40+ vendors and consignors. We offer a pleasurable shopping experience in our clean, climate controlled, well lit buildings. We have a wide variety of furniture, antiques, collectibles, home decor, garden accents, vintage and handmade jewelry, artwork, soaps, candles, lotions, local pottery, unique succulents, and so much more. Come see us and support local small businesses!

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

I have heard a recording thank me for my “patience and understanding” with every call I’ve made, just before the recording, inevitably, hangs up on me.

Finally, a couple days before going back to work, I received full payment, and the back pay I supposedly owed was removed. Just now, I received a call from Sen. Terry Van Duyn’s legislative assistant, Irma, and they were the powerhouse that was able to assist me in getting results.

To this extent, if anyone is still trying to receive benefits at this time, I strongly suggest you contact your state senator. It took a couple of days, but not only did they resolve my issues, they called to check in with me, and make sure we were OK, and that is not only a shock, but a comfort.

I have felt through this that I, and those like me, have not had the opportunity to be heard, and I would very much like us to be.

— Victoria Quinn Asheville

involved, leaving them no choice but to arrest those responsible.

On May 3, in Pender County, N.C., an armed mob, including an off-duty deputy sheriff, knocked on the door and threatened to forcefully enter the home of a black family, claiming to be looking for a missing girl in the neighborhood. No girl was there, and it was the wrong home, but the family was terrified as their lives were threatened by this vigilante gang of thugs.

Incidents like these are too common, sometimes with the silence or encouragement of the highest elected officials.

Whether you are the editor of a newspaper, an elected official or just a person who believes in basic justice, the rule of law and the sanctity of human rights in our nation, it’s time to stand against those who take the law into their own hands through acts of racial hatred, intimidation and domestic terrorism.

— Avram Friedman Sylva

Stand against those who take law into own hands

Caskey works to recruit higher-paying jobs

Recent incidents have alarmed people of conscience in Western North Carolina and across the country. On Feb. 23, Ahmaud Arbery, a black man who was jogging in a residential Brunswick, Ga., neighborhood, was murdered by a group of white men who said they thought he was suspicious looking. The local police took no action for 70 days, until the press got

Discouraging Amazon and other large corporations from coming to our communities because they don’t pay income taxes is not an answer.

We need more living wage jobs from companies like Amazon so that workers have the hope of prosperity and not just scraping to buy the basics. We need representatives who are willing to work to raise the current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

contact@gotthaveitantiques.com gottahaveitantiques.com | 828-620-2186 60 Monticello Rd Weaverville

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We’ve provided tips on the well-known attractions, hidden gems and quirky oddities that make Asheville so beloved.

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C AR T O O N B Y IRE N E O L D S

C AR T O O N B Y B R E N T B R O W N During 2019, seven Democratic bills to increase the minimum wage were introduced into the N.C. General Assembly, and all were sent to languish in Republican-controlled committees. Senate Bill 137 and Senate Bill 291 were sent to die in the Senate Rules and Operations [committee], where current 48th District Sen. Chuck Edwards sits. Local McDonald’s mogul Chuck Edwards isn’t interested in increasing the minimum wage for burger flippers or increasing taxes for large corporations.

The Town Council of Mills River is to be credited for its foresight and hard work for attracting businesses like Amazon. Brian Caskey, Democratic candidate for the Senate’s 48th District, is part of the Mills River team working to bring higher-paying jobs to our area. Brian Caskey knows that if your job needs to be done, you deserve a living wage, not a poverty wage.

— John H. Fisher Hendersonville

Action still needed on climate change The current pandemic has been an incredible wake-up call for humanity

worldwide. Here in Western North Carolina, social distancing requirements have crippled the economy.

As we head into summer, COVID19 continues to dominate local and international news. In fact, we’ve been paying so much attention to every nuance of COVID-19 that we’ve kind of lost touch with other matters.

Unfortunately, this pandemic is not our only hurdle. A much larger threat that will dwarf COVID19 is the climate crisis that in the short term is almost unresponsive to human changes. For our region, climate impacts may destroy crops, lead to forest fires similar to what we’ve seen in California or Australia and so on. One hundred fifty years of fossil fuel combustion that is mostly absorbed in oceans has no quick remedy and unchecked will lead to an uninhabitable world.

We need to act now to set better targets before society returns to busi-

Why I support Xpress:

ness as usual. With such a big problem, what can be done locally? With fuel prices so low, what better time to support House Bill 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, which would tax carbon nationwide and give the proceeds back to the public in a monthly check? Your phone call makes a difference!

If implemented, the effect would be to disincentivize the consumption of carbon so that all people would choose to use less of it and, instead, incentivize goods and services powered by other sources of energy that help to transition our society to a lower carbon future. Locally, you can join our local Citizens Climate Lobby chapter (very informal, friendly group) and/or call your congressional representative to support House Bill 763.

— Vaidila Satvika Asheville

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NEWS

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SCHOOL’S OUT: With summer programming canceled, the region’s private colleges and universities are hoping to reopen in the fall, including Warren Wilson College, pictured. If COVID-19 persists, requiring extended closures, some school leaders say the financial impact could be dire. Photo courtesy of Warren Wilson College

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Like many, David Joyce is working from home these days. But when your home is the president’s house on the Brevard College campus, you’re never that far away from the office. Still, Joyce has opted to shelter in place as a symbolic gesture. “It makes a statement,” he says. “It demonstrates that we take [COVID-19] seriously.”

Joyce, who arrived at Brevard College in 2012, is no stranger to pandemics. In 2009, during his previous tenure as president of Ripon College in Wisconsin, two students contracted swine flu, the H1N1 influenza virus.

“We quarantined them, called the health department, and CNN showed up,” he remembers.

He initially leaned on that past experience as a blueprint for how

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to manage the current health crisis.

“I dusted off those plans I used at [Ripon] and said, ‘Here’s how we’re going to handle this,’” he recalls with a laugh. “That was on a Monday. On Tuesday, we already changed almost everything we talked about. Things were happening that fast.”

Ultimately, the college closed its campus and finished out the spring semester through online courses. But now as summer approaches, the ongoing impact of COVID-19 continues to sink in. Typically, the offseason is a time to host camps and conferences, Joyce explains. But such gatherings have gone by the wayside, resulting in “about a $300,000 hit,” he says.

“Which is huge for us.”

However, things are not yet dire, Joyce emphasizes. Like other private educational institutions that spoke with Xpress, Brevard College has received economic aid through

the CARES Act, the federal government’s coronavirus relief package.

Meanwhile, its enrollment numbers for the fall semester are on pace with previous years.

“I don’t lose sleep about our financial situation,” Joyce reveals. “I do lose sleep about a resurgence of the coronavirus that would prevent us from opening in the fall semester. If that were to happen, then it would be a different kind of scenario.”

‘WE NEED TO OPEN’ A common misconception exists concerning the finances of many higher educational institutions, says Paul Maurer, president of Montreat College. “There’s this perception among some that colleges and universities — especially private colleges

MAKE LEMONADE: David Joyce, president of Brevard College, says the school is making the most of a quiet campus amid canceled summer conferences and camps. A deep cleaning session is in the works, along with renovations to residence halls.

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” Joyce says. Photo courtesy of Brevard College and universities — have loads of cash over on the side somewhere,” he says.

But that’s just not true, Maurer maintains. While some institutions, such as the California State University system, have announced plans to limit in-person courses in the fall, Maurer says a larger number of colleges and universities are planning to reopen. The reason, he explains, is simple: “It’s because we need to open.”

Mary Bates, associate director of public relations at Warren Wilson College, notes that about 80% of the annual budget for most private higher educational institutions is covered by student tuition, room and board.

Losing that revenue stream for an entire semester, she says, “can be a scary thing.”

And in some cases, the percentage is much higher. At Brevard College, for example, 92% of the budget comes from these fees, which makes reopening crucial for the institution’s financial viability. “If you don’t have tuition, room and board, you don’t have revenue to do what you need to do,” Joyce explains. “If we open in the fall, we’re fine. If we don’t open in the fall, we’ll have to at some point go to borrowing money. … It’s not like we can live without revenue for a long time.”

ONGOING IMPACT: Mary Bates, associate director of public relations at Warren Wilson College, says the school’s closure over the summer will result in roughly $2 million in lost revenue. Photo courtesy of Warren Wilson College ALL FOR ONE To avoid such outcomes, colleges and universities are currently working to create a safe and healthy environment for students, faculty and staff to return to in August. Part of the process involves collaborating with MAHEC, the Mountain Area Health Education Center.

“It will be critical to have a plan in place and ready access to testing for students, faculty and staff suspected of having COVID based on symptoms or exposure,” says Dr. Susan Mims, chair of the Department of Community and Public Health at MAHEC, in a statement provided to Xpress. While there is no definitive approach for testing individuals who do not exhibit symptoms, Mims continues, “I anticipate guidance will evolve over time, and that will help inform a testing strategy for students returning to campus.”

In addition to working with MAHEC, leaders of the area’s six major colleges (UNC Asheville, Western Carolina University, Montreat College, Warren Wilson College, Mars Hill University and Brevard College) are also coming together for weekly virtual meetings to address their individual plans and collective needs.

“I think one of the things that is comforting to know is that every school is going through this together,”

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N EWS says Bates. “We are not isolated in the decisions that we are making and the things that we have to think about.”

Scheduling is among the group’s major considerations. According to Joyce, Brevard College intends to shift its fall term in three significant ways: by starting early, canceling its fall break and ending the session prior to Thanksgiving. Ideally, Joyce says, the strategy will help reduce travel during the semester, lowering the campus’s potential exposure to COVID-19. Representatives from the region’s three other private institutions say they are considering a similar schedule, as well.

Social distancing is yet another area of focus. Mike Thornhill, director of communications at Mars Hill University, notes that block scheduling is one way to address the issue.

“We might teach a class a couple of times during a day in order to spread a group of 20 students across multiple class times,” he explains.

But admittedly, Thornhill continues, strategies for encouraging social distancing outside of the classroom remain a work in progress. “We’re looking for guidance from MAHEC, and we’re in consultation with the

other schools to figure out best practices,” he says.

The collaborative approach, notes Bates, has been a silver lining amid an otherwise challenging period. “It’s been difficult for all of us, and we all have these decisions to make that we never could have imagined,” she says.

“It’s been good that we’ve been able to band together and bounce ideas off of each other and to just know we’re not alone.”

STUDENT LIFE Another key topic and concern for these institutions is the financial well-being of students and their families. With unemployment numbers soaring, economic hardships could impact enrollment, says Joyce.

“Families have been devastated by this,” he points out. “And our student body is not a wealthy student body. … So we’ll be working with returning students and new students whose financial situations have changed drastically to figure out how we can make it affordable to them.”

Current school policies and federal grants have also helped ease

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prematurely due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, his summer internship in California is unlikely.

Still, Rojas and Moorman remain optimistic about the fall term. They recognize that campus life will look and feel drastically different from previous years, but both say they intend to use their leadership positions to promote safety measures such as social distancing.

“I think it’s really important to remind people that there is a moral code we should live by,” says Moorman. “If you don’t practice these guidelines, it’s going to cause a lot of problems for a lot of people and in the end for yourself.”

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BULLISH: Despite the ongoing uncertainties surrounding COVID-19, Paul Maurer, president of Montreat College, is enthusiastic about the school’s future. Pointing to recent initiatives and programs, he says, “I’m as bullish as I’ve even been.” Photo courtesy of Montreat College the financial burden for many.

Brevard College, Mars Hill University and Warren Wilson College provided prorated refunds for room and board following their spring closures.

Meanwhile, all four of the region’s private educational institutions have received financial assistance through the CARES Act; stipulations in the law require that half of the funding be disbursed to students.

Beyond economics, undergraduates at local schools are still grappling with the emotional whirlwind of a spring semester cut short and the uncertainties come fall. Rebeccah Rojas, a rising senior at Brevard College and a member of student government, was in the midst of planning the college’s annual Banff Mountain Film Festival when the campus shut down.

“The initial cancellation in student life engagement was tough,” she remembers. “We worked so hard and put so much time into [the film festival]. It was devastating at first.

So I took the hit hard initially, but then you have to keep on going and keep working toward other goals.”

(For more on Rojas, see “COVID Conversations,” page 15.)

Jayson Moorman, a senior at Mars Hill University and co-president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, conveys a similar sense of loss following his school’s closure. A member of the university’s lacrosse team, his final season ended

STAYING POSITIVE Like their students, representatives of WNC’s private colleges and universities remain optimistic, as well.

The outlook is based, in part, on data.

“We’re running almost 20% ahead of any year we’ve ever had in terms of net deposits [for the fall semester],” says Montreat College’s Maurer.

“We’ve had record enrollment here for each of the last five years.”

Others point to lessons learned from the spring that could help weather any fall flare-ups. “We of course have the option now of going online,” says Bates. “Our faculty was really great at making that transition in the spring.”

Meanwhile, inside the president’s house on the Brevard College campus, Joyce waxes poetic on the values of college life. “It’s not just about getting a piece of paper,” he says during his phone interview with Xpress. “It’s about the community. It’s about the whole learning experience. It’s about playing athletics. It’s about being on the debate team. It’s about going kayaking and mountain biking. It’s the whole thing.”

These factors, Joyce continues, are what keep him hopeful for the fall. He also believes the abrupt end to the spring term has had — and will continue to have — a powerful impact on the value students place on the residential learning experience model.

“I really think we might be pleasantly surprised,” he says. “I think [students] are counting down the days to get back to school. I think they miss this kind of community, 6 feet apart or not. … We’ll see. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. But it doesn’t hurt to be positive, right?” X

BUNCOMBE BEAT

Campbell proposes 2021 Asheville budget Asheville City Council may not know what the future holds, but for the next fiscal year, it’s preparing for the worst. At a May 26 meeting — conducted virtually due to COVID-19 — city staff presented a bare-bones continuation budget aimed at limiting the impacts of the pandemic across city services.

“Honestly, this was not the budget I or we were hoping to present this year,” said Debra Campbell, Asheville’s city manager. “But under the circumstances, I think we are presenting a budget that addresses key service and Council priorities.”

Campbell’s total fiscal 2020-21 budget proposal stands at $184.6 million, a 3% decrease from last year’s total of $190.3 million, and would continue funding for existing services while limiting new programs, service enhancements and initiatives. The property tax rate would remain the same under the proposal, and no fee increases are recommended.

The city will also enter next fiscal year from a weaker position than previously anticipated. Barbara Whitehorn, the city’s chief financial officer, reported that Asheville expected to receive $1.6 million less in sales tax than budgeted for the current fiscal year, a drop of about 5.8%.

Asheville is also forgoing $500,000 a month in parking revenues and roughly $56,000 monthly in transit fares by making those services free in response to the pandemic.

State and federal assistance is helping to pay for unanticipated expenses related to COVID-19, Whitehorn noted. But she said the city will still need to dip into its reserves to make up the lost revenue, spending up to $4.5 million for the general fund and $1.4 million for parking services. The year-end general fund balance could dip as low as 14% of revenues, beneath Council’s policy target of 15%.

Next year, Whitehorn said, the general fund balance is projected to take an additional $1.5 million hit as overall expenditures grow to $134.6 million, up 1.7% from the current fiscal year. She explained that the additional spending is primarily driven by the continuation of transit enhancements that went into effect in January.

Some of the city’s enterprise funds, in contrast, will see budget reductions. Due to a legal settlement, Asheville will discontinue the water capital improvement fee, resulting in approximately $7.4 million (18.3%)

RED, WHITE AND BLUES: Asheville finance staff members project that sales tax revenues will not resume growth until March 2021. Graph courtesy of the city of Asheville less revenue than last year for the Water Resources Fund. The parking services budget is projected to drop by roughly $520,000 (7%), and the Harrah’s Cherokee Center — Asheville will see a decrease of about $1 million (21.5%); Whitehorn attributed both reductions to COVID19 impacts.

No new capital projects are included in the budget. Annual capital fund allocations will continue, and projects currently in progress, associated with grant funding or funded through the general obligation bonds approved in 2016 will continue.

Campbell’s proposed budget does not include a general wage increase for employees for the first time since the end of the 2008 recession. The city

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will, however, set a $31,200 (equivalent to $15 per hour) annual pay minimum for employees working 40 hours a week and fund a state-mandated local government employment retirement system increase of roughly $837,000.

But Asheville does not have the funding to address recommendations from a recent compensation study regarding all employees’ base pay, Whitehorn said. This includes any changes for firefighters, who work considerably longer hours than most other employees and can thus make less than $15 hourly.

The current firefighter pay plan sets annual trainee pay at $32,630, firefighter starting pay at $33,935 and senior firefighter pay at $40,603. Firefighter

pay is being evaluated by the consultants working on the citywide compensation plan, Whitehorn explained.

A city hiring freeze enacted in the wake of COVID-19 will continue through at least the first six months of the new fiscal year. But because the crisis is creating more work for Asheville’s existing staff, Whitehorn noted, staff cuts are not recommended at this time. Contingency plans have been established in the event that deeper cuts or different service levels are necessary.

“There aren’t things we want to do, but the reality is that we need to plan for them just in case,” Whitehorn said.

Despite the general austerity, three new items are proposed in the fiscal 2020-21 budget: an after-school program coordinator for Asheville City Schools, extended hours and summer youth programming for city community centers and funding for the nonprofit Pisgah Legal Services Tenant Eviction Response team. The total cost of $93,000 will be reallocated from the city’s $242,000 Strategic Partnership Fund budget, leaving $149,000 to be distributed through the usual competitive grant process.

“There is ongoing major uncertainty,” Campbell said. “We do not know what the future may bring. However, we think we are prepared to respond.”

Council will hear public comments about the budget on Tuesday, June 9. Comment is currently being accepted by email at AshevilleCityCouncilJune92020@ publicinput.com and voicemail at 855-925-2801, meeting code 8958.

Council’s vote on the budget is scheduled for Tuesday, June 23.

— Molly Horak X

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Contact Nicole Allen at (828)771-2207 or nallen@givensgerberpark.org to schedule an appointment.

For more information, to download applications, or to view floor plans, go to www.givensgerberpark.org MOUNTAINX.COM

JUNE 3-9, 2020

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SPIRITED APPROACH: For a marketing campaign to begin as soon as July, Explore Asheville’s “Together in Spirit” tagline will be replaced with the tourism bureau’s logo and a more prominent website address. Screen capture courtesy of the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority

Businesses and organizations throughout Buncombe County are stirring back into action as Phase 2 of Gov. Roy Cooper’s three-phase plan to lift COVID-19 restrictions continues, and the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority is no exception.

At a May 27 board meeting, staff with the Explore Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau, which manages the 6% occupancy tax collected by the BCTDA, outlined plans to resume marketing the region to tourists as soon as July.

“Our objective is to safely and responsibly encourage travel, working hand in hand with our local health officials and government, as we move toward that direct invitation of visitors to our community,” said Marla Tambellini, Explore Asheville’s vice president of marketing.

“We understand that the safety of our community comes first, but we’re also balancing the economic cost.”

Tambellini noted that, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 7.7 million of the country’s 20.5 million jobs lost in April were in the leisure and hospitality industry. Locally, according to analysis by accounting firm Johnson Price Sprinkle, the Asheville metro area lost 18,700 hospitality jobs in April, a drop of nearly two-thirds from the industry’s pre-pandemic peak.

MOUNTAINX.COM

In another clear indication of direct impacts on the area’s hotel sector, the BCTDA saw just over $504,000 in March occupancy tax revenues, down about 63% from the nearly $1.35 million collected last March. (Tax data for April and May are not yet available.)

Explore Asheville canceled roughly $6.7 million in paid advertising and employee travel through June 30 soon after Buncombe County declared a COVID-19 state of emergency on March 12. The bureau has since committed $130,000 for the “Together in Spirit” online campaign, which Tambellini said was designed to “keep Asheville top of mind” for travelers in local markets such as Winston-Salem and Knoxville, Tenn.

But once that campaign wraps up in June, Tambellini continued, the bureau plans to move from just maintaining awareness to making a “soft call to action.” New advertisements would replace the “Together in Spirit” tagline with the Explore Asheville logo and website address, encouraging tourists to research and make plans for visiting the area.

Ads initially would target markets within driving distance of Asheville, Tambellini said, consistent with research that consumers are wary about boarding airplanes during a pandemic. She

added that advertising decisions would take into account county-level data on COVID-19 cases, with the goal of avoiding viral hot spots.

The local elected officials who serve ex officio on the BCTDA board appeared to agree with this approach. “I wanted to express my appreciation for your thoughtfulness in working with Buncombe County health officials in terms of targeted marketing in appropriate places that are not COVID-heavy,” said Asheville City Council member Julie Mayfield.

And Buncombe County Commissioner Joe Belcher said he had spoken about “smaller markets that we know have good numbers” with colleagues on the Board of Commissioners. “I wouldn’t think we’d want to run ads in Atlanta right now, but we might want to run ads south of Cincinnati,” he said.

As of June 1, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, all three of the counties immediately south of Cincinnati — Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties in Kentucky — had higher levels of COVID19 per capita than did Buncombe County.

At roughly 352 cases per 100,000 residents, Kenton’s rate of the disease is nearly triple that of Buncombe’s at 129 per 100,000.

— Daniel Walton X

BIZ BRIEFS

Asheville protesters respond to George Floyd killing

TENSIONS ESCALATE: Asheville Police officers used tear gas and rubber bullets during a May 31 protest against racial injustice. Photo courtesy of Ishka Shir A peaceful gathering turned violent the evening of May 31 as protesters against police brutality and racial injustice were met with tear gas and force by the Asheville Police Department, according to reports from area news outlets and social media.

By the end of the night, Asheville Police Chief David Zack and other officers had joined the line of protesters and knelt in response to the crowd’s demands for police to “take a knee.” Mountain Xpress was not present at the protest.

Roughly 200 protesters gathered at the Vance Monument in downtown Asheville around 6 p.m., according to reports from WLOS and the Citizen Times. Demonstrators of all ages, holding handmade signs and chanting “I can’t breathe,” joined hundreds of similar protests across the country demanding justice for George Floyd, an African American man killed by police in Minneapolis, Minn., on May 25.

The crowd marched through downtown Asheville and onto Interstate 240, which was closed in both directions. Protesters, escorted by the

APD, eventually made their way to the Bowen Bridge, where police responded with “tear gas and force,” according to reporting from the Citizen Times.

Protesters subsequently returned to the Vance Monument. Around 10:30 p.m., APD officers in full riot gear deployed rubber bullets and more tear gas against demonstrators, some of whom volleyed firecrackers and other projectiles at the police line. The crowd then walked to the APD headquarters a block away, moving closer to a line of officers wielding shields. Just after midnight, Chief Zack and several other officers knelt in solidarity with the protesters, according to reports from the protests.

“This protest was to show the Asheville community that we are strong and stand with our black brothers and sisters,” says Nick Levine, a white photographer present at the protest. “We understand that we will never understand, but we fight on.”

CONTINUES ON PAGE 14

by Xpress Staff | news@mountainx.com BUNCOMBE CONTINUES TO SEE HIGH COVID-19 UNEMPLOYMENT With apologies to T. S. Eliot, April was the among the cruelest months for Buncombe County workers. According to data released May 28 by the N.C. Department of Commerce, 13,059 Buncombe residents filed unmployment insurance claims for the first time in April after losing their jobs due to COVID-19, down slightly from 13,255 initial claims in March.

The county, North Carolina’s seventh-most populous, was fifth on the state’s list of counties by number of COVID19 claimants in April.

Of those claims, 21.7% were from workers in the leisure and hospitality industries, while 15.6% were from the trade, transportation and utilities sector.

State data suggests that the job losses have disproportionately impacted the county’s millennial workers. Employees ages 25-34 made up 26.9% of Buncombe’s initial claims in April, compared with 24.2% of claims statewide. Older workers in the county appear to have fared better, with those ages 45-54 making up just 16.8% of first-time claims compared with 19.3% across the state.

The picture is even more sobering for the four-county Asheville metropolitan statistical area, which also includes Henderson, Haywood and Madison counties.

According to an analysis of state Department of Commerce data by Asheville-based accounting firm Johnson Price Sprinkle, the Asheville MSA lost 36,400 jobs — 18.3% of its total workforce — in April.

That percentage loss effectively ties Asheville with Hickory and Greensboro-High Point

OFF THE PLATE: Neeraj Kebede, co-owner of Addissae Ethiopian Restaurant, shows off a sampler platter in his now-closed establishment. Photo by Hannah Ramirez as the state’s worst-hit metros. In comparison, the Charlotte MSA lost 13.2% of workers in April, while New Bern saw the least impact, with only 8% of its workforce laid off.

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN Statistics aside, the area is beginning to see the first wave of permanent business closures as owners, unable to bounce back from significant revenue losses, make the difficult decision to shutter for good.

Addissae Ethiopian Restaurant, which has operated at 48 Commerce St. in downtown Asheville for the last five years, cited the owners’ ages as among the reasons for its closure.

“This has been an incredibly hard decision to make because Addissae has been doing so well and we have had so many old and new friends coming to enjoy our food,” Addissae owners Neeraj Kebede and Victoria Supriti

MOUNTAINX.COM

Schomer announced on the restaurant’s Facebook page. “But the current COVID-19 situation, and our older ages, have made us choose to not go on.”

The Asheville School of Massage and Yoga in West Asheville, Futo Buta Ramen House, which opened at 121 Biltmore Ave. in November, Margaret and Maxwell Wine Salon and Rezaz Pan Medeterranean in Biltmore Village, and Native Kitchen and Social Pub in Swannanoa all join the ranks of the pandemic’s business casualties.

“It is with heavy hearts that we have come to the decision not to reopen Native in the near future,” the Native Kitchen owners announced in a May 8 Facebook post. “Over the past eight years, we have loved sharing in your celebrations, anniversaries and special moments. Of all the things we will miss about Native, and there are so many, the most significant will be the relationships and memories that were created with so many of you.” X

JUNE 3-9, 2020

13

COVID CONVERSATIONS

N EWS At least four individuals were arrested during the protests for resisting a public officer, failure to disperse on command and assault on a government official, according to the APD’s Police to Citizen online database. Arrest reports were not available as of press time.

The protests in Asheville mirrored clashes between demonstrators and police across the state.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department reportedly arrested 45 individuals over the weekend, and curfews are now in effect in Raleigh and Fayetteville.

On Sunday, Gov. Roy Cooper authorized 450 members of the N.C. National Guard to assist cities that requested additional support for controlling the protests, as announced during a May 31 press conference. North Carolina joins more than 20 states with a National Guard presence; as of May 31, Guard troops had been sent to Charlotte and Raleigh.

“I fear the cries of the people are being drowned out by the noise of the riots,” Cooper said. “Let me

14

JUNE 3-9, 2020

be clear about one thing: People are more important than property.

Black lives do matter.”

Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer and the six other members of Asheville City Council released a statement on May 29 claiming that, while there is no way to erase “centuries of abuse and mistrust,” city leadership remains committed to equity and inclusivity.

“We know that a crime like this reaches across our country and people here in Asheville are hurting,” the statement said. “We are frightened. We are outraged. We are distrustful. A violent breach of trust by a public duty officer such as this sadly reinforces these feelings and again reminds us that so much more work is needed for equitable treatment, access and opportunities to Black, Indigenous and other People of Color.”

At press time, the city of Asheville had not released an official statement about the May 31 protests; a press conference was scheduled for later on June 1.

MOUNTAINX.COM

— Molly Horak X

As the local impacts from the coronavirus pandemic stretch into a third month, Western North Carolina residents continue to adapt. So far in our series of COVID Conversations, we’ve spoken with a hair stylist, a senior housing resident, a minister, a person experiencing homelessness, a single parent, a visual artist, a high school senior, a therapist, a legislator, a Henderson County woman caring for COVID-positive family members, a photographer, a postal carrier, an author, a city bus driver, a funeral director and an expectant mother.

This week we continue this exploration of the effects of isolation and disruption — as well as the resilience of members of our community.

Breathe in, breathe out Local doula offers virtual guidance during pandemic Prior to COVID-19, Chama Woydak knew exactly who she was: a business owner, certified birth doula, birth doula trainer and Lamaze-certified childbirth educator. But with the onset of the pandemic and Buncombe County’s stay home, stay safe mandate — which deemed birth doulas as nonessential workers — Woydak’s sense of self has wavered at times.

“When this happened, I felt that my efficacy — the way I was able to reach people, touch people, inspire people — was not as strong,” she says. “Not being able to be on the floor these past six weeks has been really hard. And so you feel a little disconnected.”

Three weeks before the county’s March 26 mandate went into effect, Woydak’s company, Homegrown Families, shifted from in-person sessions to online courses.

In the process, she discovered that some of her abilities didn’t translate easily to the online platform. “As a birth worker, I read what’s happening through emotional intelligence,” she says. “So I can read a room and use the information I’m getting in order to problem-solve. … That is a lot harder through the screen.”

Nevertheless, Woydak says she has since found her rhythm. The online model, she explains, “means you have to be more verbal. So I’m asking more questions and allowing a lot more space for people to be verbal back.”

Her one-on-one work as a doula also continues through prenatal support. As with her birthing classes, Woydak offers online sessions with individuals and couples. She’s conducted several outdoor meetings with clients seeking in-person instruction, as well.

COACHING FROM AFAR: Doula and business owner Chama Woydak transitioned from in-person to online birthing classes on March 8, three weeks before Buncombe County’s stay home, stay safe mandate went into effect. Though she prefers a hands-on approach, the virtual classes have helped maintain a sense of community for her expecting clients. Photo by Destinee Blau Woydak says what she continues to observe during the pandemic is a mixed sense of purpose and purposelessness.

“What I’ve seen and what I’ve experienced myself is that people are cycling through periods of motivation and stillness. It’s like, ‘OK, I have all this time, I’m going to do all these things.’ But then you’re like, ‘Actually, I’m going to do absolutely nothing. I can’t even function.’

“People are just not quite sure how they fit in,” she continues. “Where is my role?

Who am I? What’s my narrative? That’s what I’ve noticed the most in all of this.

And doulas are struggling with it, too.”

— Thomas Calder X

Downtime

Surprise!

Musician April Bennett gets creative in finding her ‘new normal’

Turning 21 in quarantine

April Bennett’s guitar-driven, funk-rock group, April B. & The Cool, was on tour and set to play at the Pour House Music Hall in Raleigh on March 14 when everything went sideways due to COVID19. “It was expected to be a sold-out show, and we were waiting with our phones to see what the governor and mayors and people in power were saying about, ‘How do we do this?’” she remembers.

Ultimately, the show went on, albeit with capacity dropped to just 100 people. And since then, Bennett, like other touring musicians, has been navigating a strange new career landscape — one without live crowds. “It’s just been a process of processing and trying to figure out what the new normal is,” she says.

On May 15, she joined forces with local R&B and hip-hop band Lyric to kick off what might be part of the new normal for Asheville’s music scene with the first livestream Downtown After 5 concert. For the show, Bennett and her band gave a rousingly energetic performance to a nearly empty Orange Peel. “It was definitely weird playing in one of the biggest rooms in the city with no people in it except for the staff who were recording it,” she remarks with a laugh. “But I was really glad for that [opportunity]. It was definitely a much-needed morale boost during these crazy, crazy times.”

For now, in the interest of safety, Bennett plans to stick to doing virtual shows and she feels that the Downtown After 5 livestream could be an effective model for other efforts. “This quarantine is going to require a lot of innovation and creativity, and I think that [show] was one of the starting blocks for future innovations,” she says. “I was really happy to be a part of that.”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: On April 1, rising senior Rebeccah Rojas celebrated her 21st birthday in quarantine on the Brevard College campus. Photo courtesy of Rojas

PLAY ON: Musician April Bennett is riding the wave of stops and tentative new starts in the entertainment business in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Through it all, she’s finding ways to stay creative. Photo

by Bill Fox The coronavirus downtime, she adds, has allowed her to focus on songwriting and working in her home recording studio as well as developing other outlets, including a new obsession with gardening. “I’ve been finding so many different ways to be creative,” says Bennett.

— Gina Smith X

Why I support Xpress: “Honest local journalism is fundamental to democracy.”

– Jim Samsel Join Jim and become a member at SupportMountainX.com

Brevard College closed its campus in mid-March, sending the majority of its students home to finish the spring term online. But when Rebeccah Rojas determined it was too risky to travel to rejoin her family in California, college administrators granted permission for her to continue living on campus. Rojas became one of roughly 80 students who have called Brevard College home despite the shutdown.

“Initially, we still went to the Myers Dining Hall to pick up our food,” Rojas says. “But once things started getting more serious, they decided to deliver the items to us instead. … As a student from out of state, it was really comforting to know I was able to seek shelter and still be provided meals for the semester.”

Quarantine rules have prohibited Rojas from inviting guests to campus.

For the rising senior, dealing with the social isolation hasn’t always been

easy. Majoring in business and organizational leadership, Rojas says she enjoyed an active campus life prior to COVID-19 through her involvement in student government and the women’s soccer team.

Yet Rojas says the new reality of her situation didn’t really sink in until her 21st birthday on April 1 (no kidding).

Before the pandemic hit, she’d planned to celebrate the milestone with her family in California, not alone inside her dorm.

“It was a little tough,” she says.

But to Rojas’ surprise and delight, some of the remaining students organized an outdoor, socially distant cookout for her big day. “It was a great and memorable quarantine birthday,” she says. “It was really thoughtful and humbling. It felt good to know I had a family here on campus.”

— Thomas Calder X

Immediate Openings!

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JUNE 3-9, 2020

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F E AT UR E S

ASHEVILLE ARCHIVES

by Thomas Calder | tcalder@mountainx.com

‘Fighting the unknown’ Safety measures tighten as the city combats the 1948 polio outbreak

A FAMILY THAT SINGS TOGETHER: In July 1948, amid a polio outbreak, city officials ordered children to stay home. An editorial in the July 28, 1948, edition of The Asheville Citizen offered a positive spin during the health crisis, writing: “Perhaps, after all, a stimulation of family life is the silver lining in this cloud of community gloom.” Photo courtesy of the North Carolina Collection at Pack Memorial Library, Asheville On July 1, 1948, The Asheville Citizen reported that four North Carolina counties — Guilford, Burke, Moore and Cumberland — were designated “as polio epidemic areas.” Other regions of the state, including “the extreme western and eastern parts remain with normal limits,” the paper wrote.

At the time, Buncombe County had only four known cases, with two of the individuals residing in Asheville.

However, by July 8, the city’s infection rate increased to nine, with two cases resulting in deaths (that of a 4-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl). “Health department officials have suggested that children not be permitted to attend affairs where they would be in crowds,” The Asheville Citizen reported that day.

Two days later, on July 10, the paper included additional recommendations by the health department, following four new cases. Along with avoiding crowds, children were urged to sleep more and steer clear of “over-exercis-

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JUNE 3-9, 2020

MOUNTAINX.COM

ing.” Further, the health department “recommended avoiding irritation to the mouth, nose, and throat by having teeth pulled and tonsils and adenoids removed, as this also greatly increases danger of the infection.”

In compliance with the city’s guidelines, organizations began canceling or postponing events, including baseball games, square dances and Sunday school sessions. Nevertheless, polio continued to infect the city’s youth, with 24 total cases reported on July 13.

By July 21, the city issued a formal mandate, prohibiting children 16 years and younger from attending all public gatherings. Adults were also encouraged to refrain from social outings and strenuous exercise “since they may develop a mild case of polio and be a carrier of this disease,” The Asheville Citizen wrote.

In addition to the ordinance, the city launched a new DDT spraying campaign to eviscerate infected flies, based

on a report by the county medical society that suggested insects might be spreading the virus to humans. According to an article in the July 21, 1948, edition of The Asheville Citizen, trucks mounted with “Bean spray hoses” began showering neighborhoods with the chemical compound. “Residents,” the paper wrote, “appeared to be pleased when the big machines passed, throwing a cloud of fog-like spray, that in some instances gave a snow effect on lawns and shrubbery.”

Along with the city’s efforts to wipe out potential threats, several local organizations also worked to “relieve family tedium during this ... isolation,” The Asheville Citizen reported on July 28.

Special radio programs were created, and competitions were organized. “One of the contests arranged for young essayists,” the paper wrote, “has as its subject, ‘How I Learned to Get Acquainted with My Parents.’”

Despite these efforts to contain the virus, infections mounted. By July 30, the city and Buncombe County reported a combined total of 70 cases. That same day, the city’s health department closed all nonessential businesses and prohibited public gatherings.

“It is a drastic order,” The Asheville Citizen declared in an editorial featured in the following day’s paper. “But the situation demands it and the public will accept it.”

The editorial continued: “The polio epidemic presents a serious crisis to this community. To a large extend, medicine is fighting the unknown. Polio in its epidemic effect is probably much less critical than some other diseases. The influenza epidemic in Asheville during the first World War period claimed many lives and was infinitely more dangerous. Yet in fighting the unknown, we are also fighting the fear and panic which the unknown creates. More minds will be at rest, and possibly the ravages of polio will be limited, through this order prohibiting every kind of activity in Asheville which produces large crowds.”

Editor’s note: This is the second article of an ongoing series exploring the 1948 polio outbreak. The first piece can be found at avl.mx/760. Punctuation and spelling are preserved from the original documents. X

COMMUNITY CALENDAR JUNE 3 - 11, 2020

CALENDAR GUIDELINES For a full list of community calendar guidelines, please visit mountainx.com/calendar. For questions about free listings, call 828-251-1333, ext.

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

MUSIC

6pm, Archetype Brewing, 265 Haywood Rd

A CAPELLA SINGING (PD.) WANNA SING? ashevillebarbershop. com

• Quarantine Concert Series Livestream: Lo Wolf (folk & rock). 7pm, avl.mx/77f

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 • Second First Annual Deadly Pandemic Comedy Short Competition. 5pm, Online, avl.mx/75x

TUESDAY, JUNE 9 • Quarantine Concert Series Livestream: Aaron Price & Lilah Michelle. 7pm, avl.mx/77f

• Quarantine Concert Series Livestream: Bill Altman & the Gentleman Callers (old-school blues). 7pm, avl.mx/77f THURSDAY, JUNE 4 • True Home Open Mic Night. 6pm, Flood Gallery Fine Art Center, 850 Blue Ridge Rd, Black Mountain • Quarantine Concert Series Livestream: Moon & You (cello/ guitar duo). 7pm, avl.mx/77f FRIDAY, JUNE 5 • DJ Kilby Spinning Vinyl. 10pm, Ben’s Tune Up • Quarantine Concert Series Livestream: The Resonant Rogues (folk noir). 7pm, avl.mx/77f • Formal Friday: a fancy online comedy show.

8pm, avl.mx/77i SATURDAY, JUNE 6 • Big Blue (hip-hop, rock, funk). 10pm, Ben’s Tune-Up • An Evening with Lemon Sparks (folk & jazz). 7pm, Isis Music Hall • World’s Greatest Party Band. 8pm, Oklawaha Brewing Co., 147 1st Ave E, Hendersonville • White Horse Livestream: Brian Hilligoss (country, Americana).

8pm, avl.mx/778 • ODDbangers Ball Livestream, Episode 1: As Sick As Us. 9pm, avl.mx/76n SUNDAY, JUNE 7 • Open Mic Night.

6pm, The Barrelhouse, 1459 Merrimon Ave MONDAY, JUNE 8 • Old Time Jam w/ Banjo Mitch McConnell.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10 • Quarantine Concert Series Livestream: Bardic Alchemy (progressive celtic fusion).

7pm, avl.mx/77f THURSDAY, JUNE 11 • Trivia Night. 7pm, Mad Co. Brew House, 45 N Main St, Marshall

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 • 310ART Gallery: Collage Self Portraits.

7pm, Online, avl.mx/75f FRIDAY, JUNE 5 • Leap then Look: Light Sound Movement Workshop. U.K.-based participatory artists reimagine experimental workshops. Free, RSVP required, 10:30am, Online, avl.mx/76e • Slow Art Friday: Is It Art?: Docent-led virtual conversation on artworks at Asheville Art Museum. Register: 828253-3227 x122. 12pm, Online, avl.mx/77h FRIDAY, JUNE 12 • Slow Art Friday: Depression-Era Prints: Docent-led virtual conversation on artworks at Asheville Art Museum.

Register: 828-253-3227 x122. 12pm, Free, Online, avl.mx/776 • 310ART Gallery: Crazy Chickens Watercolor Series w/ Miriam. 1pm, Online, avl.mx/75v

SPOKEN & WRITTEN WORD

• Brown Mountain Lightning Bugs (folk, rock, Americana). 7pm, Oklawaha Brewing Co., 147 1st Ave E, Hendersonville

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 & 10 • Poetry Open Mic. 8:30pm, Free, Online, avl.mx/76w

• Quarantine Concert Series Livestream: Pleasure Chest (rock & blues). 7pm, avl.mx/77f

TUESDAY, JUNE 9 • Discussion Bound: Black Mountain Poems.

12pm, Free, Online, avl.mx/76q

• Come Together Asheville Benefit Concert. 7:30pm, Online, avl.mx/774

WELLNESS THURSDAY, JUNE 4 • Alzheimer's Association Virtual Course: COVID-19 & Caregiving. 10am, Free, Online, avl.mx/76b TUESDAY, JUNE 9 • Alzheimer's Association Virtual Course: COVID-19 & Caregiving. 6pm, Free, Online, avl.mx/76c

ART WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 & 10 • 310ART Gallery: Break Out Voice: A Live Workshop w/ Eric Scott.

7pm, Online, avl.mx/75c • 310ART Gallery: Practicing Magic: The Visual Journal. 1pm, Online, avl.mx/75d

THURSDAY, JUNE 11 • True Home Open Mic Night. 6pm, Flood Gallery Fine Art Center, 850 Blue Ridge Road, Black Mountain

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

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 • Dream Cafe w/ Bernard Welt: Weekly Guided Dream-Sharing Hangout. 9am, Online, avl.mx/74h • WNC Virtual Career Expo: Determine your

best job fit and meet with employers live via chat or email. Thru June 5, Free, Online, avl.mx/76f FRIDAY, JUNE 5 • Dream Cafe w/ Bernard Welt: Weekly Guided Dream-Sharing Hangout. 11am, Online, avl.mx/74h • Mindset Reset for Creatives: Free Webinar w/ Jen Aly & Johanna Hagarty. 2pm, Online, avl.mx/77e MONDAY, JUNE 8 • Asheville Newcomer's Club. 9:30am, First Baptist Church of Asheville, 5 Oak St. • Swannanoa Valley Museum Book Club Webinar: Guests on Earth by local author Lee Smith. 11:30am, Free, RSVP required, Online, avl.mx/76p

ECO THURSDAY, JUNE 4 • Land Innovation: Modeling Conservation & Climate Action for a Changing World: Webinar on regenerative agriculture by Dave Ellum. 10am, Registration required, Free, Online, avl.mx/779 • Electric Vehicles: The Future is Now: Interactive webinar on sustainable transportation with Dave Erb. 7pm, Registration required, Free, Online, avl.mx/75z SATURDAY, JUNE 6 • Madison County BioBlitz: Citizen science project cataloguing the region's biodiversity.

Thru June 20, Online, avl.mx/767

FOOD & BEER ONGOING • ASAP Farmers Market. Saturdays, 9am, A-B Tech, 340 Victoria Rd FRIDAY, JUNE 5 • Weekly Zoom Guided Beer Tastings w/ The Whale AVL. 5pm, Online, facebook.com/ TheWhaleAVL SATURDAY, JUNE 6 • Inaugural Hendersonville Farmers Market. 8 am, Historic Hendersonville Train Depot, 650 Maple St. THURSDAY, JUNE 11 • Fairview Welcome Table Community

Lunch. 2nd Thursdays, 11:30am, Admission by donation, Fairview Christian Fellowship, 596 Old US Highway 74, Fairview • The Black Jar International Honey Tasting Contest: Cocktail event with live music, honey tastings and a silent auction benefiting Project Genesis. 6pm, Asheville Renaissance Hotel

FESTIVALS FRIDAY, JUNE 12 • SeekHealing presents We Are The Medicine: Online festival featuring interactive seminars, music, games and an auction. 4pm, Free, Online, SeekHealing.org

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 • League of Women Voters Asheville-Buncombe Forum: Does Your Vote Count? The Impact of Gerrymandering. 6pm, Registration required, Online, avl.mx/75t THURSDAY, JUNE 11 • Blue Ridge Republican Women's Club Meeting.

2nd Thursdays, 6 pm, Yao, 153 Smoky Park Hwy

KIDS WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10 • Miss Malaprop’s Storytime Livestream.

Wednesdays, 10am, Online, avl.mx/73b

OUTDOORS SATURDAY, JUNE 6 • Virtual Forest Bathing & Nature Therapy. 9am, Online, GoFINDOutdoors.org • Get Outside! w/ Girl Scouts. 11am, Online, avl.mx/72h THURSDAY, JUNE 11 • Pisgah Chapter of Trout Unlimited: General meeting and presentations. 7pm, Free to attend, Ecusta Brewing, 49 Pisgah Hwy, Suite 3, Pisgah Forest

PUBLIC LECTURES WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 • Ask the Researcher: Digital Textiles w/

Victoria Manganiello & Julian Goldman. 4pm, Registration required, Free, Online, avl.mx/76j

SPIRITUALITY Astro-Counseling (PD.) Licensed counselor and accredited professional astrologer uses your chart when counseling for additional insight into yourself, your relationships and life directions. Stellar Counseling Services. Christy Gunther, MA, LPC. (828) 258-3229.

ONGOING • Sunday Celebration Service w/ Jubilee Church. 9:30am, Online, jubileecommunity.org • Weekly Online Stream: Jewish Power Hour w/ Rabbi Susskind. 6pm, Online, chabadasheville.org THURSDAY, JUNE 4 • Chabad Asheville: Virtual Torah & Tea w/ Asheville Jewish Women’s Circle. 2nd Thursdays, 10:30am, 127 McDowell St FRIDAY, JUNE 5 • Dreaming a New Dream Meditation: Explore peace and compassion. 1st Fridays, 7pm, Free, Center for Spiritual Living Asheville, 2 Science of Mind Way THURSDAY, JUNE 11 • Open Sangha.

7:30pm, Urban Dharma, 77 W. Walnut St.

VOLUNTEERING Free Books through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library!

(PD.) All children under the age of five are eligible to receive a brand-new, age-appropriate book each month mailed directly to their home. Enroll online/ more info at www.litcouncil.com or imaginationlibrary. com. Free.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 • 12 Baskets Cafe Volunteer Orientation.

10:30 am, 12 Baskets Cafe, 610 Haywood Rd

MOUNTAINX.COM

JUNE 3-9, 2020

17

WELLNESS

HIGH ANXIETY

Expanded programs support behavioral health issues during pandemic

BY LESLIE BOYD leslie.boyd@gmail.com Long before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, people with mental health issues often faced difficulties getting the help they needed. But with walk-in clinics and other mental health facilities shuttered to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, many people are reporting higher levels of stress and anxiety.

Federal funding, however, will help two Western North Carolina agencies expand mental health services, some directly related to the pandemic and the rest addressing overall behavioral health issues.

A pending grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will support expanding a 24-hour hotline and pandemic-related crisis services. Meanwhile, money from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will enable the Mountain Area Health Education Center to enhance and expand its existing behavioral health services.

“You don’t have to be a psychiatrist to know that when you take away people’s routines and jobs, it’s difficult for them, especially if they have a mental illness,” says Brian Ingraham, CEO of Vaya Health.

STAFFING UP: A $4 million federal grant will support the addition of about 45 new staffers to provide therapy, manage care and create an additional crisis team at the Center for Psychiatry and Mental Wellness at the Mountain Area Health Education Center. Photo courtesy of MAHEC The public managed care organization oversees behavioral health services in Buncombe and 21 other WNC counties as part of the state’s Division

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of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services. Vaya already had a more general 24-hour access-to-care line before the pandemic hit, but it was only for people who were Medicaid-eligible or uninsured. Those whose insurance didn’t cover the behavioral health care they needed couldn’t access it.

On April 30, however, FEMA announced that North Carolina could apply for funding through the federal agency’s Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program; that same day, the state requested $2 million.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services hopes to use some of the anticipated money to support its April 8 decision to expand the Hope4NC Helpline — initially created in 2016 to help those affected by Hurricane Matthew — to a statewide service. The federal funding, though, “is particular to the COVID-19 crisis,” Ingraham explains. In addition, DHHS plans to use some of the expected federal money to support the crisis counseling program the state has created specifically to help address the pandemic.

Both programs are available 24/7 to all who need assistance.

In a May 4 statement, Kody H. Kinsley, deputy secretary for behavioral health and intellectual and developmental disabilities, called for quick and collaborative action to address the pandemic’s behavioral health impacts, which he said constitute “the second curve.”

The federal funding, which hasn’t been awarded yet, “will help us quickly stand up a statewide response that helps folks normalize their experience, get access to additional resources and build resiliency,” said Kinsley.

LONG-TERM CARE The Mountain Area Health Education Center’s grant is not specific to the COVID-19 pandemic, although the timing of the $4 million, twoyear award couldn’t be better, says Shane Lunsford, the administrator for MAHEC’s Center for Psychiatry and Mental Wellness. The money will enable the agency to hire about 45 new people to provide therapy, manage care and create an additional crisis team.

“We hope to have everything in place

by September,” notes Lunsford.

Bringing Back our

“People are hunkered down. There’s a higher level of anxiety, of stress.”

— Christine Elliott, Vaya Health The expansion will make the agency only the fifth Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic in the state and the first in WNC. The federal designation applies to select clinics providing more comprehensive services.

More importantly, says Dr. Stephen Buie, who directs the agency’s psychiatry residency program, it will allow MAHEC to offer care to people who are uninsured, which is common among those with serious behavioral health issues, since insurance tends to be tied to employment.

The Vaya program provides shortterm help, says Buie, but MAHEC’s funding will support continuing treatment that will give people a better chance of successfully managing their illnesses.

“This has been a long-term issue, and this will offer a long-term solution,” he says.

The federal money will enable MAHEC to collaborate with Vaya, RHA Health Services and other local providers to build what Lunsford calls “a sustainable infrastructure,” and there’s a good chance that the agency will be able to extend the funding in two years, notes Lunsford.

“The CCBHC program began in 2014, and the government has renewed these grants pretty routinely,” he says.

HUNKERED DOWN For its part, Vaya Health is expected to get up to $225,000 of the FEMA money, which will support the local agency’s decision to open up its accessto-care line to people who were previously ineligible. Callers with pandemic-related issues are then connected to the state’s COVID-19 response program.

So far, Vaya hasn’t seen an increase in the number of calls, member services manager Christine Elliott reports, but callers now tend to be in greater need than they were before the pandemic hit. “Our clinicians are staying on the phone with them longer, making more referrals,” she says. “People are more likely to have lost a job now, to be worried about money and how to put food on the table.”

They’re also more vulnerable to depression.

“People are hunkered down, and for people who live alone, the isolation is more pronounced,” adds Elliott. “There’s a higher level of anxiety, of stress.”

Hope4NC staff, meanwhile, refers callers with COVID-related issues to the state program’s second component: community-based crisis counselors.

Hired locally, they provide support services (including both individual and group counseling) to help clients deal with fear, anxiety and trauma, learn effective self-care strategies and navigate community resources.

In more normal times, crisis counselors typically see patients face to face; now, however, many clinicians are working mostly or entirely online.

To ensure that everyone can get the help they require, Vaya Health has used other funding to buy 500 smartphones for those who don’t have one.

“We definitely want our most vulnerable people to have access to what they need,” says Elliott.

And though most folks won’t face an outright mental health crisis, she continues, they’re still experiencing higher levels of anxiety and stress. Even working from home, notes Elliott, can be stressful, because it blurs the boundaries between work and home.

“Self-care is especially important right now,” she says. “Get enough sleep, develop a routine, eat healthy foods, stay as connected as possible to friends and family by touching base online or on the phone, and exercise.

Get out in the sun for a bit.”

The state DHHS also offers advice on self-care during the pandemic.

And if it all starts to feel too overwhelming, seek help.

“We thought this might be a sprint, but it’s beginning to look more like a marathon,” Elliott observes. “Help is here for everyone who needs it: Don’t be afraid to reach out.” X

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19

GREEN ROUNDUP

by Daniel Walton | dwalton@mountainx.com

Small firms claim exclusion from local public solar process As spring turns into summer, Buncombe County, the city of Asheville and local school systems are seeking the sun: over 7 megawatts of solar energy projects, to be precise, for which the public entities released a joint request for proposals on April 8. Several local solar companies, however, claim that the terms of the RFP are shading them out of the process.

Mike Diethelm, president and founder of Asheville-based SolFarm Solar Co., says that the RFP requires all bidders be able to obtain construction bonds — a sort of insurance against uncompleted projects — of at least $10 million. That’s true even of smaller firms that would bid only on the city and county solar projects, the minimum allowed by the RFP, which he estimates at a total project value of just over $3 million.

Because of SolFarm’s size, Diethelm explains, the company hasn’t been able to obtain that financial guarantee. “[The bond requirement] knocks out so many local medium and small solar businesses, which we have a lot of in this town, and only opens it up to the big guys,” he says. While SolFarm is trying to partner with Washington, D.C.-based WDC Solar to meet the necessary bond limit by the bid deadline of Friday, June 19, he continues, success is far from guaranteed.

Meanwhile, Dave Hollister of Weaverville-based Sundance Power Systems says his firm isn’t planning to submit a bid. He agrees with Diethelm that the process is geared

A ROAD TOO FAR? Josh Kelly, MountainTrue’s public lands field biologist, stands next to a temporary road in the Buck Project area of the Nantahala National Forest. Photo courtesy of MountainTrue toward larger companies; local governments, Hollister argues, are mistakenly assuming that they’ll save money by bundling projects together.

“Any of the notion that there’s some economy of scale here is just a false notion,” Hollister says, because each of the 46 projects in the RFP will require individual engineering and

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safety plans. “It’s not like I can buy 10 acres of land and have one project that I design and install a utility-scale system on.”

In response to these concerns, Buncombe County sustainability officer Jeremiah LeRoy says that the RFP is designed with the county’s financial safety in mind. “The awarded bidder would not be required to bond all of the projects simultaneously, but meeting the aggregated limit requirement provides the county with assurances that the bidder has the financial capacity to take on a project of this size and protects the county should the bidder not complete the contract as required,” he says.

Forest Service gives final OK to Buck Project logging Almost 800 acres of the Nantahala National Forest are slated for logging after a May 22 decision by

the U.S. Forest Service. The Buck Project, named for the Buck Creek area of southeastern Clay County, will also involve prescribed burning on approximately 3,600 acres.

In a document announcing the decision, Andrew Gaston, ranger for the Nantahala forest’s Tusquitee and Cheoah ranger districts, said the project would increase habitat for species such as the golden-winged warbler by boosting the percentage of young forest. He also said that selective logging would improve the forest’s overall growth and develop food-producing trees for native wildlife.

Local environmental groups, however, blasted the project as irresponsible in a statement released May 26. “This decision ignores public input and support for an alternative proposal that eliminated the riskiest logging and protected clear-running and popular trout streams and old, biologically rich forests,” said Amelia Burnette, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Asheville office. “The agency fell short of its obligation to consider harmful impacts of its logging plan and disclose them to the public.”

Josh Kelly, public lands field biologist with Asheville-based nonprofit MountainTrue, added that the Buck Project ran counter to ongoing public input about revisions to long-term plans for the Nantahala and Pisgah national forests. “Instead of taking a collaborative approach that prioritizes ecologically appropriate and beneficial work, the federal agency is igniting controversy right in the middle of the plan revision,” he said.

Appalachian Trail Conservancy revises hiker guidance Nearly two months after requesting the Appalachian Trail’s closure to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy has issued new guidance for those seeking a walk in the woods. Although the nonprofit continues to recommend that hikers stay home, its guidelines provide best practices for outdoor activity during the pandemic.

“As warmer weather takes hold and some states’ stay-at-home orders are rolled back or expire, we understand that many people are anxious to return to public lands like the Appalachian Trail,” said Sandra Marra, the ATC’s president and CEO, in a press release announcing the guidance. “We believe the scientific information has become clearer on how to keep yourself and

TAKE A LOOK: Citizen scientists participate in a 2019 bioblitz similar to the Madison County Bioblitz, which runs June 6-20. Photo courtesy of MountainTrue those around you safe from COVID-19, though we still encourage everyone to use an abundance of caution and practice social distancing wherever possible.”

According to the guidelines, hikers should carry a face mask and hand sanitizer at all times, avoid shared spaces such as shelters and dig catholes for human waste instead of using privies. Groups should consist of no more than six people and stay away from “well-known locations where there will likely be many visitors.”

Due to their need for repeated trips into populated areas, the ATC asks thru-hikers to continue postponing their hikes. However, the organization says that guidance will be revised if the COVID-19 infection rate flattens or drops in all states through which the trail passes, as well as if all trail closures currently in place are lifted. The current guidelines can be reviewed at avl.mx/76v.

Save the date • On Thursday, June 4, the Western North Carolina Sierra Club hosts a free webinar on electric vehicles.

Retired automotive engineer Dave Erb will address “some of the extensive mis- and disinformation that dominates the public discourse” on the topic. More information and registration are available at avl.mx/75z.

• Warren Wilson College hosts a free webinar on Thursday, June 4, about the college’s approach to land use in the context of climate change. Dave Ellum, Warren Wilson’s dean of land resources, will discuss regenerative

agriculture, agroforestry, nontimber forest products and other topics.

More information and registration are available at avl.mx/771.

• T he inaugural Hendersonville Farmers Market is scheduled to take place 8 a.m.- 1 p.m. Saturday, June 6.

The market, located at the Historic Train Depot on Market Street, will require face coverings for all shoppers and will space vendors 10 feet apart to comply with social distancing rules. More information is available at avl.mx/6z4.

• From Saturday, June 6, through Saturday, June 20, the Madison County Bioblitz invites residents to join a citizen science project cataloging the region’s biodiversity.

Participants can record sightings of birds, insects, fish, flowers and other species through the iNaturalist smartphone app to help scientists understand what lives in the county and where. More information and registration are available at avl.mx/767.

• As part of the Pollination Celebration sponsored by Asheville GreenWorks and Bee City USA, Ruth Gonzalez of Reems Creek Nursery will host a free webinar on certifying pollinator gardens. At 10 a.m. Saturday, June 13, participants will learn how their gardens can qualify for Bee City USA recognition. More information and registration are available at avl.mx/65u.

CLEANUP CREW: Volunteers sit aboard the Asheville GreenWorks Trash Trout in 2019; the litter-capturing device received $20,000 in the latest grant cycle from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina’s Pigeon River Fund. Photo courtesy of Asheville GreenWorks in grants from the Pigeon River Fund for nonprofits in Buncombe, Madison and Haywood counties.

Awards include over $34,000 to Marshall-based Mountain Valleys Resource Conservation and Development Council for stormwater improvements at local schools, $30,000 to the Maggie Valley Sanitary District for watershed protection and nearly $29,000 to MountainTrue for continued E. coli monitoring. More information is available at avl.mx/766.

• T hroughout June, the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will treat three WNC counties for infestations of the invasive gypsy moth. Synthetic gypsy moth pheromones, which prevent male insects from successfully mating, will be applied at Mount

Mitchell in Yancey County, as well as in Allegheny and Watauga counties.

V eterans Healing Farm in • Hendersonville is partnering with the Henderson County Soil and Water Conservation District and Winston-Salem based nonprofit Resource Institute to restore the banks of Shaw Creek. John Mashie, the farm’s executive director, says the project will both improve water quality and create a peaceful spot for veterans to connect with nature.

• W est Asheville resident Don McAdam has developed an approach for converting gas-powered commercial lawn mowers to use electric power. A video tutorial and documentation for the roughly $3,500 conversion are available at avl.mx/765. X

Doing good • O n May 15, The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina announced over $143,000 MOUNTAINX.COM

JUNE 3-9, 2020

21

FOOD

OPEN-MINDED

Independent restaurants grapple with whether and how to reopen for in-house service

BY KAY WEST kwest@mountainx.com As of May 22, North Carolina entered Phase 2 of its COVID-19 reopening plan.

Among other things, the latest phase permits restaurants to resume scaleddown versions of in-house dining.

Dazed and confused might best describe the reaction from local restaurateurs, with side orders of determination and ingenuity. Just as the first mandate inspired multiple methods of conducting business as unusual, so has permission to welcome guests at 50% capacity with distancing and strict sanitation requirements, including masked staff.

Jane Anderson, executive director of the Asheville Independent Restaurant Association, and Kevin Barnes, owner of Ultimate Ice Cream and 2020 chair of the AIR board, say member response has been a mixed bag. “There’s been a lot of craziness, uncertainty and backand-forth, especially in the week leading up to Phase 2 as people tried to figure out the next steps for them,” says Anderson. “Everyone handled Phase 1 differently, and we’re seeing the same in Phase 2.”

“Phase 2 has created more and different challenges, and there is no perfect answer,” agrees Barnes.

For Melissa Gray, who opened RosaBees on Foundy Street last September, the answer was clear. “We want to open, we have to open,” she says. “I don’t have the luxury of staying closed. I’m a hustler, so I have always run toward the fire, but we are proceeding with extreme caution.”

RosaBees closed before the March 17 mandate and immediately shifted to a takeout model. Gray did not rush to

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JUNE 3-9, 2020

CHEERS: RosaBees owner Melissa Gray looks forward to saying aloha to indoor and patio diners when service resumes on Friday, June 5, with a new reservation system and masks for staff. Photo by Rachel McIntosh reopen on May 22 but, instead, took a couple of days off for some much-needed breathing room and time to fine-tune the plan that will open her business on June 5. “We’ve rearranged the dining room with less tables and are building a patio for five new tables that will seat six each outside. Our staff will be masked and gloved.”

A new reservation system will offer three 90-minute seating blocks at 5, 7 and 9 p.m., which gives staff 30 minutes between each to sanitize the restaurant.

“There will be no leeway in the system,” Gray emphasizes. “People need to think of dining at RosaBees as an event that they buy a ticket for. We think it’s the safest way to proceed forward.”

Chef and restaurateur Peter Pollay, whose Mandara Hospitality Group includes 11-year-old Posana and 2019 newcomers Bargello and District 42 in the Hotel Arras, tailored his COVID operations to each business. Posana remained entirely closed until just before Mother’s Day, then initiated takeout of a la carte items, family meals to heat at home and gluten-free baked goods, a plan that will continue for the foreseeable future. “Posana is long and narrow,” he points out. “Losing the bar seating and distancing tables would bring our seating capacity down to 20%25%. Even with outdoor seating, it’s just not viable.”

MOUNTAINX.COM

Bargello and District 42 — which consume both sides of the Biltmore Avenue entrance of the hotel’s ground floor — followed a different game plan from the start, due in part to the residents in the building’s upper-floor condos, and some long-term hotel guests who were permitted to remain.

“Bargello has been open the entire time for takeout so we could take care of hotel guests and residents,” Pollay says.

“If I could find one silver lining, it’s been that we’ve all really gotten to know each other and build relationships.”

In anticipation of reopening for on-site dining May 22, Pollay and his managers flipped the script on fine-dining norms.

“We have reconfigured all the seating and completely changed service models,” he says. The large community table in District 42 is now equipped with three screens of digital menus. Customers proceed from there to the bar, where hosts take orders from behind a plexiglass barrier, and payment is done using a credit card pad on the guest side.

“They go to the end of the bar to pick up their drinks, then pick a safely distanced table. Their food will be brought to their table on china with silver. It’s like an incredibly beautiful food hall with nice china and really great food,” he adds with a laugh.

The March 17 mandate closed Sawhorse Restaurant one month shy of

its one-year anniversary, but chef and owner Dan Silo kept on cooking, transitioning from dining room to parking lot.

Sawhorse currently offers its full menu for takeout, operating on a schedule of two weeks on, one week off schedule.

“I’m pretty much running everything alone, so my hours are longer than when we were open, and two weeks on is about all I can handle,” he explains.

Because Silo and his wife, Nora Scheff, bought the Sawhorse building and the Small Business Administration agreed to a six-month cancellation of his loan payments, he is not feeling the pressure to open that others are. “We’re really lucky, and it feels like a luxury to be able to take our time to make that decision,” he says.

“Our staff is good with unemployment, and we’re seeing the numbers we need for now to make it sensible to wait,” Silo continues. “We’ll be keeping an eye on how the situation develops in nearby states that opened earlier and how it goes locally.”

Anderson is keeping a watch as well.

“It will be an interesting few weeks as all of this unfolds,” she says. “I think people will get their bearings and figure out what is best for them, and we’ll support them the best we can.” X

Special delivery Kickback AVL keeps it local

“It’s amazing what determination and desperation will do for you,” says Jennie Townsend, owner of Ashevillebased food delivery service Kickback AVL, which she worked on creating for a year before kicking it off in December 2018. While the two traits are key to many an entrepreneurial vision on the rocky road to profitability, Townsend has a few more in her portfolio that have helped build her client list and customer base.

“As one of the early adopters of the local food movement here in Asheville, supporting local business is key to us,” says Kevin Barnes, who has owned and operated Ultimate Ice Cream with wife Lucia for 15 years. “The big companies come in, do unscrupulous things, and they’re not accountable.

Jennie is local, we know her and what she does for our community.”

When a Chicago pizza truck owner posted his March Grubhub statement on Facebook, it went viral, spurring national news coverage from outlets including Eater and the Los Angeles Times on the hefty fees large corporate delivery companies charge for their services. The food truck owner’s billing showed that out of $1,042.63 in orders, he pocketed just $376.54. “I was probably tagged a thousand times on that story,” says Townsend with a laugh.

She does things differently, in part because she has been working in restaurants since she was 14 and spent 20 years as a pastry chef, including four at Sunny Point Café. “I try to be very transparent with our fees and how they work. Our service fee is 25% and up to the restaurant to decide how to do that. They can add that to their price on our menu — which means a $10 hamburger would be $12.50 — pay it all themselves or split it.”

A service fee of 6% helps cover the cost of processing credit cards (and, pre-COVID, Kickback provided compostable and biodegradable cutlery); the base delivery fee is $4.99 for

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50 Broadway • Asheville, NC (828) 236-9800 • mellowmushroom.com/asheville DELIVERANCE: Jennie Townsend started Kickback AVL as a local alternative for restaurant and product delivery. Photo by Kickback AVL five miles (mileage is added above that), with 70% going to the driver and 30% to a local nonprofit (Asheville Cat Weirdos in 2019, BeLoved Asheville for 2020).

When N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper closed restaurant dining rooms in mid-March, the Kickback website became “a madhouse. We had a lot of new restaurants sign up and so many new customers for delivery,” she says. “The other new thing we’re seeing is how early people are eating now. Instead of 6:30 and 7, it’s between 4 and 5. All but two of our restaurants are closed by 8. We’re done earlier but working a lot harder when we’re rolling.”

For more on Kickback AVL, visit avl.mx/762.

— Kay West X

Thank You FOR VOTING!

BEST OF WNC Results coming later this summer!

MOUNTAINX.COM

JUNE 3-9, 2020

23

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

TAKE A TURN

Local art class leaders meet COVID-19 challenges with creativity

BY ALLI MARSHALL allimarshall@bellsouth.net As the stay home, stay safe order swept across North Carolina, shuttering businesses until further notice, local arts centers, crafts schools and workshop facilities were faced with shutting down operations. After all, most art and craft lessons happen in person and in shared spaces. But for many such business owners, the need for revenue and the belief in art as a necessity during difficult times meant that hanging up the paint smock wasn’t an option.

“I’m not going to give up,” says Ginger Huebner, founding director of the Asheville-based Roots + Wings School of Art & Design. The facility, which offers preschool and after-school programming, semester classes and summer camps in three locations, lost 80% of its income overnight due to social distancing measures. But the Roots + Wings pivot to an online curriculum wasn’t a new idea.

“What’s ironic is that for the last year I’d been building up to have an online presence,” says Huebner, who was interested in marketing Roots + Wings programs beyond Western North Carolina.

“I believe what we offer is incredibly unique, by talking about the process rather than the product.” The online classes also limit screen time, which will likely come as a relief to some participants who have tired of web-based meetings, communication and entertainment.

The challenge now, says Huebner, is how to get the new platform in front of interested artists and students.

The creative reinvention for Jessica Kaufman, owner of WAXON Studio in West Asheville, involved shifting gears from workshops to production.

Quarantine began just as the batik and tie-dye business was coming out of its slow season. Kaufman had started booking classes again. COVID-19, she initially thought, would mark the end of WAXON. But, two weeks in, she realized, “I have a giant shop full of beautiful fabrics and a sewing machine and nothing but time.” She began making protective face masks and shared them online to see if her friends might be interested. She sold 100 within a couple of days and decided to make the masks available to the wider public, selling another 100 within a couple of hours. At press time, four weeks 24

JUNE 3-9, 2020

antine began, Greenberg was able to put together “stress kits — packages of paints, brushes and canvas.” Works by members of Aurora Studio classes are available at an art auction on eBay (avl.mx/768). Proceeds benefit the program and the artists.

At the crossroads of creativity and mental health, Aurora Studio & Gallery “is not considered an essential service,” says Greenberg. “But in so many ways we are.”

She adds, “We’ll just take a little bit of a turn and whatever people need, we’ll try to meet people wherever they are.”

For all three makers and educators, keeping art available is important to the local economy and to the Asheville area’s need for creative outlets as part of recovery from COVID-19 and quarantine.

“Right now, we all need courage in the midst of needing resilience, which will equal creativity and connecting with others,” says Huebner. Roots + Wings has its Creative Institute offerings online and is taking things week by week.

Huebner continues, “I do believe we have to keep creating. We have to keep creativity in front of ourselves. We can’t afford to lose that.”

Learn more at creativecommunity.rootsandwingsarts.com, waxonstudio.com and aurorastudio-gallery.com. X

SET UP CAMP: Roots + Wings Creative Institute has taken its summer programs online while promising a focus on process over product and not too much screen time. Photo courtesy of Roots + Wings into full-time mask-making, she’s processed more than 600 orders (including multiple masks per purchase) on Etsy.

“I haven’t mixed up any dyes or turned on the hot wax in months, but we are full-on producing cloth masks,” Kaufman says. “The cool thing is I’m using fabrics I’ve already made. … It’s amazing because I’m clearing out all the dusty corners of precious scraps I’ve held onto.”

She adds, “I’m so grateful and so stunned.” The boon to her business has allowed her to bring back an assistant and upgrade to a thermal label printer, among other positive developments.

Aurora Studio & Gallery also made a quick adjustment when founder Lori Greenberg realized those served by the Asheville studio’s art classes wouldn’t be able to attend in person. “Right away, when we realized we were going to close, [graduate intern Pax Cleary] and I spoke and we said, ‘Yeah. We need to at least call people weekly,’” Greenberg says.

“We work with people who are fragile, and the trauma of being out in the community, not seeing your friends and not

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getting the support you need … for all of us is life-changing.”

Aurora Studio & Gallery, which celebrated its eighth anniversary in May, is “a supportive art space for artists who have been impacted by mental health needs, addiction or not being housed,” according to a press release. As a small entity, it has teamed with sister organizations, including Seek Healing (which provides support services to those recovering from addiction or trauma), through which Greenberg started leading an art group via the Zoom videoconferencing platform.

Another partner group is Youth Villages, which assists youths ages 17-21 who are aging out of foster care. “The youths had been isolated at home,” says Greenberg. She offered them a meeting through Zoom “because they’re more involved with technology and they’d want to see each other.” Youth volunteer Kyley Shurrona co-created that presentation.

And, after local artist Joyce Thornburg made a well-timed donation of art supplies just before quar-

ABOUT FACE: Jessica Kaufman of WAXON Studio repurposed her batiked and tie-dyed fabric supply into protective face mask production.

Photo courtesy of Kaufman

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A&E

by Edwin Arnaudin

earnaudin@mountainx.com

Dispatches from the bubble CaroMia releases new EP, enjoys slower pace of life

CaroMia Tiller is a staple of the Asheville music scene. Before the COVID-19 pandemic closed music venues for the time being, one could catch the singer/songwriter performing most nights of the week in Goldie & the Screamers, Siamese Sound Club, various solo and duo projects and guesting in friends’ bands. Opportunities to hear her recorded work, however, have been far fewer — which makes her new EP Green (released on May 15) all the more special.

“I spend a lot of time writing and recording at home with no intention of sharing what I make and have hundreds of recordings that only a few close friends have heard,” Tiller says.

“I was going through one of my darkest hours when I wrote the songs on Green, and there are some extremely personal experiences woven into them, but I felt a calling to release this collection.”

Tiller crafted Green over a few months last summer in her bedroom studio, laying down vocals, keys and MIDI instruments as she composed the songs. “I’m most inspired at odd hours of the night, so the whispery quality of the vocals came to be from trying not to wake my housemates up,” she says.

“That whispery, dreamy quality guided the writing.”

The EP’s six original works explore a variety of ambient pop styles, with sounds ranging from the chill, Beach House-like grooves of the opening title track to the sustained vocals and propulsive melodic mayhem reminiscent of Radiohead on closing number “Cracks in the Pavement.”

A frequent collaborator with fellow local artists, Tiller recruited some of Asheville’s most talented and hardest

SHINE A LIGHT: CaroMia’s song “Cracks in the Pavement” was written last summer, but its core lyric, “Down on your back, you can see the stars/Bright in your eyes when the night is dark,” takes on new meaning during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I was reflecting on the experience of how some things become so much more beautiful and illuminated during dark times,” she says. Photo by Casey Puhr working musicians for Green. Former Midnight Snack member Zack Kardon, whose current main musical focus is his solo project Southern Pine, plays guitar on four tracks, realizing Tiller’s long-held desire to team up. “Instead of jumping onto what is already present, Zack has a notable gift for hearing the quiet undercurrents of a song and adding rhythms and textures to bring them out,” she says.

Also on the album is guitarist/vocalist Ram Mandelkorn. While writing

“Horseshoes,” Tiller was also recording vocals on his Rahm Squad album Sojourn and, realizing there were “subtle influences of his music in that song,” she knew she’d need his participation to truly complete it. Rounding out the local collaborators are keyboardist Simon George, who lent “his talents to a handful of synth lines”; Matt Williams on strings (“He’s just amazing and I love his passion”); and saxophonist Jacob Rodriguez, whose horns grace three of the EP’s tunes.

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“Jacob used to sit in with Siamese Sound Club often on Mondays, and they were some of my favorite nights,” Tiller says. “I’ve always been taken by the beautifully crafted arches of his solos, but, ironically, I had him approach these with chaos and disorderliness in mind.”

In addition to sharing Green, Tiller released a DIY music video for the title track and is making one for each song.

During what she calls “quarantime,” her natural tendency to live inside her “own little bubble” has become socially acceptable, and beyond “the financial stress and concern for the rest of the world,” she’s felt largely content.

Her realization after a few weeks at home that “keeping up with the news wasn’t really going to be beneficial” has helped her remain positive, and she’s thankful for her aforementioned “amazing housemates,” with whom she shares plentiful laughs. In turn, she’s embraced a rare opportunity “to live my best life of introversion” and is seeing its benefits on her art.

“I’ve basically filled this time with writing music for the sake of making music,” Tiller says. “Having no daily agenda has made the last few months feel like a daydream, and it’s been really conducive to my creativity. I really don’t have or need any exterior motivation to be creative. It just makes me feel good inside my little bubble — and that’s good enough for me.”

Tiller has also enjoyed seeing her friends livestream performances from their homes and plans to do some shows herself in the near future. Not being able to make Green’s sounds come alive with a band and share the experience with a crowd of people has been difficult, and while she’s realistic about the rapid adjustments her industry is having to make, she’s not concerned about the future of music.

She notes that “music has been integral to humanity from the very beginning” and posits that “some kind of creative renaissance” could emerge. But until something resembling her pre-coronavirus schedule is feasible, she’s happy embracing life’s small pleasures.

“One of the silver linings of having so much more time has been being truly present and experiencing the depths of ‘normal’ activities — cooking, gardening, FaceTiming with friends, sitting in the sun, going for hikes, petting your dog, feeling the breeze, getting mail, going for a drive, a glass of wine … or four,” Tiller says. “The mundane has taken on a new sparkle. I think a lot of people are finding appreciation in so much that we rushed past before. If we can hold onto that, as we move back into the ways of old …” avl.mx/76s X

SMART BETS

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

The Great Reset

Mark Bumgarner

Just over a week after the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted the Asheville community’s daily life, writer and studio owner Shawndra Russell and multifaceted entertainer and researcher Tommy Calloway launched a new podcast series called The Great Reset. “We can’t go back to the way things were, because the way things were was broken,” Russell says. “This podcast provides a way for us to talk to some really smart, creative and like-minded people who hope that we fundamentally change as a society for the better after this unprecedented time in human history.” As of press time, 29 episodes have been published, featuring conversations with Highland Brewing Co. President Leah Wong Ashburn, educator Kelly Hanson, attorney Derek Allen, N.C. House Rep. Brian Turner and more. thegreatresetmovement.com. Photo of Russell and Calloway courtesy of the artists

Since moving to Asheville in 2004 and establishing Two Chairs Music studio in Big Ivy, Americana artist Mark Bumgarner has thus far recorded three full-length personal projects. On My Way Back Home mixes the Appalachian influences of his youth with his more recent exposure to acoustic music upon returning to Western North Carolina after over a decade in Nashville. And When Love Comes Around finds Bumgarner collaborating with his wife, Aimee, under the name Calico Moon.

Now, the host of the MerleFest band competition is back with Just Above the Waterline, featuring guest spots from Bumgarner’s Jubal Foster bandmates Milan Miller and Jeff Smith, plus Steep Canyon Rangers fiddler Nicky Sanders, Balsam Range mandolin player Darren Nicholson and acoustic guitar from Blue Highway member Tim Stafford. The diverse collection was released June 2 and provides a rich consolation prize for fans of meaningful songwriting who can’t wait for live music to return. markbumgarnermusic.com. Photo by Aimee Bumgarner

Mugs on a Mission

Come Together Asheville

Local ceramicist Libba Tracy typically creates large animal sculptures in the River Arts District, in close quarters with her fellow artists while studio-strolling tourists watch. But with COVID-19 restrictions moving her to the solitude of a makeshift barn studio, she’s crafted 100 intricately designed mugs as part of an ongoing effort “to find purpose and meaning somehow through the clay.” Tracy named the series “Mugs on a Mission” and will donate proceeds from sales to Bounty & Soul, a community-based nonprofit that provides access to fresh produce and wellness education. Black Mountain Center for the Arts, which is displaying and marketing the mugs, also will receive a small percentage of the profits. Each mug has a unique design that will be a surprise for each customer. $50. blackmountainarts.org Photo of Tracy courtesy of the artist

Unable to hosts its annual Sound Effects benefit concert, during which selections from The Beatles’ White Album (aka The Beatles) were to be performed by an allstar lineup of local talent, Asheville Music School seeks to keep its music education programs alive via the online variety show, Come Together Asheville. The event takes place Thursday, June 11, at 7:30 p.m., and features live and prerecorded performances by such local and regional artists as the Mark and Maggie O’Connor Duo, David Wilcox, Jamie Laval, Al Petteway and Amy White, Underhill Rose, Justin Ray, Matt Williams, Andrew Scotchie, Ashley Heath, The Moon and You, Pink Floyd tribute Floyd Philharmonic, MAR and comic Hilliary Begley. Local poet Lockie Hunter will serve as host. The fundraiser follows numerous AMS endeavors enacted during quarantine, including a collaborative video cover of “Here Comes the Sun,” which looped in 40 teachers, students and special guests. Free to view, but donations are encouraged. avl.mx/775. Photo of Mark and Maggie O’Connor Duo by J. Elon Goodman

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MOVIE REVIEWS THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTORS

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

BRUCE STEELE bcsteele@gmail.com Kristina Guckenberger

= MAX RATING dreamlike quality of the film is due in large part to Sturla Brandth Grøvlen’s gorgeously hazy cinematography and the undeniable chemistry between the two female leads. Moss and Young thoroughly entangle their characters and represent a desire that feels distinctly feminine — a depiction of internalized repression and resentful yearning that compels them to push beyond their comforts and seek a more honest awakening.

Read the full review at mountainx.com/movies/reviews REVIEWED BY KRISTINA GUCKENBERGER KRISTINA.GUCKENBERGER@GMAIL.COM

Shirley HHHHS DIRECTOR: Josephine Decker PLAYERS: Elisabeth Moss, Odessa Young, Michael Stuhlbarg BIOPIC/THRILLER RATED R Adapted from Susan Scarf Merrell’s novel, Shirley is a fictionalized biography of Shirley Jackson, a midcentury horror writer famous for her bizarrely reclusive persona and sinister stories on the American bucolic (most notably “The Lottery”). By centering the story on Rose (Odessa Young, Assassination Nation), a college-age newlywed who becomes entangled in Shirley’s tumultuous web, director Josephine Decker (Madeline’s Madeline) and screenwriter Sarah Gubbins have masterfully elevated a standard biopic to a haunting revisionist tale.

When wide-eyed Rose and her oblivious husband, Fred (Logan Lerman, The Perks of Being a Wallflower), move in with Shirley (played to perfection by the queen of unhinged characters, Elisabeth Moss) and her obnoxious, philandering husband, Stanley (Michael Stuhlbarg, The Shape of Water), the seams of both marriages quickly pull apart. Using his powers of undue influence as a prestigious professor and Fred’s mentor, Stanley insists that the young couple live with them — an invitation that feels more like an order — in an effort to help Fred embark on the path of success.

However, it’s made abundantly clear that Stanley wants Rose to monitor Shirley’s increasingly erratic behavior and pick up the domestic slack that his wife’s 28

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bouts of mania and depression wreak on the household. Initially posited as a commendable concern for Shirley’s declining mental health, this act quickly reveals itself to be an attempt to control his wife and assuage the guilt of his extramarital activities. Still, Rose reluctantly agrees to the terms, compelled by the stress of an untimely pregnancy, her subsequent school dropout and her husband’s overshadowing career aspirations.

As Rose carries out her task of observing Shirley during her fits of tortured genius, she becomes captivated by them.

The unadulterated anger that Shirley enacts by breaking things and screaming at anyone who dares to approach her work frightens Rose but also fascinates her. The rush of wild abandon surrounding Shirley imbues Rose with what the latter calls a “terrifically horrible” feeling — one that encompasses both danger and intrigue — and presents a startling path to freedom for Rose.

When Shirley uncovers the news of a missing college coed and begins to fixate on it, her heady fog begins to lift. Quickly, her manic obsession with Paula, the MIA woman, obliterates her writer’s block, sets her new novel aflame and catalyzes an overarching, all-consuming exploration of what it means to be a “lost girl.” Rose embarks on this quest alongside Shirley, seeing herself as voiceless and a lost girl of sorts, and is entranced by the allure of an entirely erasable identity.

What ensues is a mix of hallucinatory imagery and gothic queer narrative that pushes as much as it pulls. The alluring,

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2040 HHHS DIRECTOR: Damon Gameau PLAYERS: Damon Gameau, Eva Lazzaro, Zoë Gameau DOCUMENTARY NOT RATED At this point, if you don’t believe in the dangers our planet and species face due to climate change and its effects, I question both your sanity and intelligence. And if this is the case, a documentary isn’t likely to sway you anytime soon, even if it’s a masterpiece. Nevertheless, Australian actor/director Damon Gameau presents 2040, which calls for people to stop burying their heads in the sand and take action.

Instead of bombarding us with doom and gloom — as is usually the case with films about our planet’s future — Gameau takes the optimistic path of a dreamer and problem solver. His goal is to tackle the issues we collectively face with solutions rather than blame, and in this regard 2040 sets itself apart from its dour counterparts.

Stemming from curiosity and concern about what his 4-year-old daughter’s life will be like 20 years from now, Gameau travels the globe in search of modern, forward-thinking and actionable plans to curb emissions and foster sustainability from cutting-edge researchers and planetary advocates. He then uses these advances to visualize and reenact how a bright and healthy future may look for his imagined, now-grown daughter — provided we implement these lifestyle and structural changes immediately.

Gameau’s approach is novel and refreshing, but his presentation doesn’t always work. Much of the film’s bite is lost through a mishmash of animation and special effects that distract rather than enhance, creating an unwieldy experi-

James Rosario

Chris Maiorana

AVAILABLE VIA FINEARTSTHEATRE.COM (FA) GRAILMOVIEHOUSE.COM (GM) 2040 (NR) HHHS(GM) Alice (NR) HHH (FA) Beanpole (R) HHHS(FA) Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint (NR) HHHS (FA) The Booksellers (NR) HHHS(FA) Crescendo (NR) HHHS (GM) Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy (NR) HHHHH (GM) Fantastic Fungi (NR) HHHH (FA) Fourteen (NR) HHHH (FA) The Ghost of Peter Sellers (NR) HHHH (GM) The Hottest August (NR) H (FA) Joan of Arc (NR) HHHS(GM) Lucky Grandma (NR) HHHH (FA, GM) Military Wives (PG-13) HHH (FA) New French Shorts 2020 (NR) HHHH (GM) Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band (R) HHHH (FA) Pahokee (NR) HHHHS(FA) The Painter and the Thief (NR) HHHH (FA) Papicha (NR) HHH (FA) Shirley (R) HHHHS (Pick of the Week) (FA) Slay the Dragon (PG-13) HHHH (FA) Someone, Somewhere (NR) HHHH (FA) Sorry We Missed You (NR) HHHHS(FA) Spaceship Earth (NR) HHHS (FA) The Times of Bill Cunningham (NR) HHHHS (FA) Up from the Streets — New Orleans: The City of Music (NR) HHHH (GM) Vitalina Varela (NR) HHHHS (FA) The Whistlers (NR) HHHH (FA) The Woman Who Loves Giraffes (NR) HHHHH (FA)

ence. In addition, its fractured, anthology approach forces an episodic feel rather than a fully formed narrative. As an educational TV series for kids and teens, 2040 would shine, but when presented as a feature film for an adult audience, the results fall flat.

With rushed, hastily told vignettes, it can be hard to wholly invest in 2040’s details, but as a conversation starter for the already initiated, it certainly has worth. It’s difficult to disagree with Gameau — unless your mind is already made up — and as the parent of a 5-year-old, I find my concerns aligning closely with the filmmaker’s.

Despite its lackluster presentation, 2040 is filled to the brim with ideas and empowerment, and we owe it to future generations to take a good long listen — and then act accordingly. With all the issues currently plaguing society, worrying about whether

we’ll have a planet for our kids to live on shouldn’t be on the list.

REVIEWED BY JAMES ROSARIO JAMESROSARIO1977@GMAIL.COM

The High Note HHS DIRECTOR: Nisha Ganatra PLAYERS: Tracee Ellis Ross, Dakota Johnson, Kelvin Harrison Jr. DRAMA/ROMANCE RATED PG-13 Nisha Ganatra, director of Late Night, is back with The High Note, a similarly visually sharp, female-centric film that sadly assumes merely having women in leading roles is a sufficient substitute for a script that has them do much of note.

Her follow-up feature, about a Diana Ross-type diva called Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross, ABC’s “Black-ish”) and the efforts by Grace’s personal assistant/aspiring producer Maggie (Dakota Johnson) to give her a proper second act, has even less to say than Ganatra’s Mindy Kalingpenned breakthrough about a creatively blocked Letterman-like host.

Likewise involving a hardworking minority outsider attempting to make her way into the glitzy world of showbiz, The High Note’s script by debut screenwriter Flora Greeson flirts with important themes but fails to fortify them with characters and circumstances that take them beyond basic levels.

Set amid lovely Los Angeles scenery, Greeson’s tale of motivated fame-hounding is full of excessive music industry name-dropping that cheapens its message of hard work in the service of “real” music, and the story isn’t helped by the latest in Johnson’s long line of amateurish (and ironically) nepotistically enabled performances.

Read the full review at ashevillemovies.com Available to rent via iTunes, Amazon and other streaming services REVIEWED BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN EARNAUDIN@MOUNTAINX.COM

Joan of Arc HHH DIRECTOR: Bruno Dumont PLAYERS: Lise Leplat Prudhomme, Annick Lavieville, Justine Herbez FOREIGN FILM/DRAMA NOT RATED After months of quarantine, isolation, social distancing, wearing masks and passing empty grocery store shelves, you may have discovered that man can indeed live on potatoes, rice or bread alone, contrary to what Jesus Christ said. However, in his New Testament statement, the Nazarene wasn’t talking about bread in the literal sense, but of spiritual nourishment.

The same could be said of movies. They are not merely people standing in front of lights saying things. In most cases, you should feel a sort of suspension of gravity that lightens the heaviness of the world.

Yet, in Bruno Dumont’s Joan of Arc, the French director (always the French) takes you as close to the bread and water version of filmmaking one can hope to achieve in a two-plus-hour package, marching inevitably to a burning at the stake.

Dumont’s Joan is an epic for a time of quarantine and scarcity. So, you can live on bread alone. The question is, “Do you want to?”

In considering that question, know that the action of the film, including the battles and events that are later discussed, takes place off-screen. The audience experiences the butt-blistering length of the film through long, pensive shots that slowly zoom in on Joan’s face, pan through large empty cathedrals and sweep across vistas of open countryside.

This is not so much a complaint but a statement of bare facts. The film is sparse — apparently by design rather than from a lack of resources — and it formally rejects many of the combustible cinematic elements that audiences tend to expect.

It’s a drama, after all, not an action film — though even the scenes of heightened emotional content are put forth in a mood of artful restraint.

While the viewer certainly gets a feel for the bureaucracy and tedium of the trial of Joan of Arc — which helps the viewer experience Joan’s travails — in so doing, the film tends to drag on. Framed in a religious setting, it’s not difficult to feel as if you are sitting through a long and dreary liturgy and would rather be somewhere else. Yet you sit, as if doing penance for some imagined sin.

Dumont shrewdly (and perhaps brilliantly) employs real-life academics to play the incompetent, hectoring Catholic clerics who put Joan on trial. Stroke of genius!

And this proves to be the most interesting part of the film. Those learned men steal the show from even Joan herself.

Not everything has to be short and sweet, but historical biography tends to benefit greatly by a tight focus on singular events. Joan could have greatly benefited from a stricter framing around the drama of the trial and a leaner run time.

But don’t let the pace deter you. If you’re into girl-power films, this is one you may want to check out. In total, it’s slow but not excruciating — a good springboard into further study of a significant historical figure.

Fair warning, though: After viewing this film, you will have trouble dislodging Tal Bachman’s song “She’s So High” from your head.

REVIEWED BY CHRIS MAIORANA STANORDAN@GMAIL.COM

“Why are they publishing this Crier rubbish?” you may be asking.

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

Transformers… businesses in disguise Gov. Roy Cooper’s implementation of Executive Order 141, aka Phase 2, aka The Deuce, on May 22 allowed salons, restaurants and other businesses to reopen at reduced “mid-’90s Asheville” capacity. Meanwhile, in textbook rapture fashion, other businesses were left behind, still unable to welcome customers — a reality that has many entrepreneurs reevaluating their services and finding new ways to serve the public. Several local operations initially not allowed to reopen have exploited various loopholes and are returning this week with revised missions.

“We’re not a gym anymore,” argues Crossfit AVL trainer Trey Magnifeek.

“We’re a pool, so dive in and get ripped.” Recently the business’s owners closed the garage-style doors and rolled back the roof, letting the tropicalstorm-fueled rains fill up the facility and allowing the business to open at 50% capacity. No more wiping down equipment, Magnifeek promises, “and if you think rolling tractor tires is tough, try treading water with one.” Crossfit AVL has also replaced its rowing machine with an actual rowboat, tethered to the east wall. Frazier’s Tavern has also opened, identifying as a pool — though it remains unclear whether the move is rooted in confusion about playing pool versus having a pool.

It’s raining “a-mens” at the historic Grove House, where drag queens have transformed the one-time Scandals nightclub into a church offering late-night services. Dubbed “Second Coming,” the ecumenical house of worship offers solace during this difficult period.

“Scandals is my spiritual home, and right now it makes perfect sense to use the space to continue bringing souls into holy communion with one another,” says Sister Linda Hand. The facility has parlayed its experience with prophylactic measures into an extensive set of practices to ensure safe celebrations.

“We spent a lot of years convincing people we don’t serve food, despite our name,” says new Burger Bar restaurant owner Alita Pickle. “Now we do … technically.” In fact, the West Asheville mainstay doesn’t even sell drinks anymore — just Jell-O. “My favorite is the Jell-O lasagna,” she says.

“But the traditionalists are enjoying the Jell-O burger.” All the dishes are made on the premises in refrigerators and are chock-full of vodka and other clear liquors that may or may not “cook off.” Incidentally, Crier food critic, Al Havanother, hasn’t been heard from since he was dispatched to Burger Bar for its first lunch service Friday.

Smoky Mountain Sk8way has partnered with several licensed beauticians to offer “Haute (Couture) Wheels.” With haircuts now falling into the category of permitted businesses, customers who come for a trim also receive a complimentary skate rental. “Just please slow down when they get close to your ears,” warns manager Jim “Wheelz” McCutcheon, adding, “Roll-ins are welcome.”

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FREEWILL ASTROLOGY ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries poet Paul Verlaine wrote “Autumn Song” in 1866. It became a well-known French poem and eventually played a role in a historical turning point. In June 1944, a top-secret British spy organization used the poem as a code to communicate crucial information to the French Resistance, via BBC radio, about the Allies’ upcoming D-Day invasion of Normandy. In the spirit of poetry being used to accomplish practical actions, I’m now sending out a burst of code to you, Aries. It’s adapted from another poem by Verlaine: “Delight in good-omened fortune, baptized by the bristling scents of mint, thyme and clover on the wind of dawn.” Regard this as a signal for you to acquire a necessary resource, strengthen connections with key allies and intensify your current quest.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus philosopher Bertrand Russell observed, “The best life is the one in which the creative impulses play the largest part and the possessive impulses the smallest.”

That is always an important principle for everyone to embrace, in my opinion. But it will be an especially essential truth for you in the coming weeks. Your creative powers will thrive, even soar and generate blessings, to the degree that you downplay and outwit your possessive inclinations.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “It’s OK to live a life others don’t understand,” writes author Jenna Woginrich. That’s a healthy attitude for an eccentric person like her, who taught herself by trial and error how to run a small farm with a meager budget while all alone in the middle of nowhere. But does her advice apply to everyone?

I say yes, it does. All of us have quirky behaviors and idiosyncratic ideas and odd feelings that other people find hard to understand, let alone appreciate. I bring this to your attention, Gemini, because the coming weeks will be a time when it’s best for you to emancipate yourself as much as possible from the need to be perfectly understood as you express your raw, pure, unique self.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I’m one of the lucky people who has never been addicted to alcohol or drugs. What’s the source of my great fortune?

Two kinds of grace are key: I suffered no abuse and trauma when I was growing up, and my genetic makeup doesn’t predispose me to self-medicate with intoxicants. But I am indeed a bit addicted to other things, like fearful fantasies, sexual feelings and the urge to win arguments. So I’m blessed in some ways, cursed in others — just like all of us! In honor of our season of introspection, my fellow Cancerian, I invite you to do what I just did: Count your blessings and curses. Doing so will bring you just the right kind of healing.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Jacquemus Mini Le Chiquito” is the name of a tiny purse you can buy for $522. It fits into the palm of your hand and won’t hold much — maybe a single-use strand of dental floss, a shoe from a Barbie doll, a snippet of a loved one’s hair, an aspirin, maybe a few crumbs from a potato chip. In any case, I don’t recommend it for you. You should be surrounding yourself with symbols of capaciousness and roominess. You need influences that inspire you to be a spacious container. It’s time for you to welcome and receive an abundance of blessings, inquiries and invitations.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “Worry is a way to pretend that you have knowledge or control over what you don’t,” writes author Rebecca Solnit.

“And it surprises me, even in myself, how much we prefer ugly scenarios to the pure unknown.” Your assignment in the coming weeks is to thoroughly incorporate Solnit’s wisdom — and then wield it with tender ferocity as you reshape your relationship with the future. See if you can manage, if only for 10 days, to fight off and dissolve the reflex to worry.

Here’s a tip: Any time the agitated fantasy of an ugly scenario rises up in your imagination, remind yourself that it’s not objectively true and immediately replace it with a fantasy of a desirable scenario.

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Nobel Prize-winning Libran author William Faulkner was asked by a cousin if he was drunk when he dreamed up the imaginative stories and characters in his novels.

The truth was that on occasion Faulkner did indeed consume alcohol in excessive amounts.

However, he rarely indulged while actually writing.

His creative ideas mostly came from his fertile imagination, not an unhinged spirit. In the coming weeks, I hope you will be like Faulkner during the inventive phases he enjoyed while sober and disciplined and driven by focused intention. The astrological omens suggest that’s the best recipe for generating original ideas and productive visions.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “What use is this howling tenderness?” wrote eighth-century Tamil mystic poet Andal. My research on Google reveals that no one has answered her question until now.

I decided you would benefit from hearing my response, since you are in a chapter of your life story when howling tenderness could work to your benefit. So here’s my counsel: Howling tenderness is useful because it has the power to shatter mysterious barriers that have been at least partially obstructing you from exploring the frontiers of sacred intimacy.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield articulates the spiritual medicine I think you should seek in the coming weeks. You especially need it, and by happy coincidence, it’s likely to be available. Kornfield writes: “When we have for so long been judged by everyone we meet, just to look into the eyes of another who does not judge us can be extraordinarily healing.”

I urge you to identify the people who can perform this service for you, then ask them point-blank to perform this service, even if it has to happen over FaceTime or via Zoom. To generate the good karma that will ensure this happens in just the right way, offer to perform the same service for others.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “The changes we dread most may contain our salvation,” writes author Barbara Kingsolver. Although I mostly agree with her conclusion, I’ll also suggest that we could come up with less melodramatic versions of it. For example, we might say, “The adjustments we’re resisting may actually be healthy.” Or “The uncomfortable transitions we’re avoiding might ultimately lead to a better version of comfort.”

Or “The revelations we’re attempting to ignore and deny could eventually be the source of relief and release.” Do any of these work for you right now, Capricorn? I bet at least one does.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Some people seem to think of sacredness as being pristine and pious — an immaculate and orderly transcendence of earthly concerns. Author and minister Marilyn Sewell has a different perspective. “Who can order the Holy?” she asks. “It is like a rain forest, dripping, lush, fecund, wild. We enter its abundance at our peril, for here we are called to the wholeness for which we long, but which requires all we are and can hope to be.” I recommend Sewell’s version of holiness to you in the coming weeks, Aquarius. You’re primed to upgrade and deepen your sacred lust for life.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): When Europeans arrived in the New World, the Iroquois Confederacy in what’s now northeastern North American had been practicing participatory democracy for 350 years. The visionary principles of these native people ultimately influenced the formation of the United States and its Constitution. Now would be a good time for you to be inspired by these facts. How? You could draw teachings from the past and use them to create your future. You could study the perspectives of indigenous people and incorporate their wisdom into the way you live your life. You could tune in to and explore the traditions of people you respect and adopt them for your own use.

MOUNTAINX.COM

MARKETPLACE

BY ROB BREZSNY

REAL ESTATE & RENTALS | ROOMMATES | JOBS | SERVICES ANNOUNCEMENTS | CLASSES & WORKSHOPS | MIND, BODY, SPIRIT MUSICIANS’ SERVICES | PETS | AUTOMOTIVE | XCHANGE | ADULT Want to advertise in Marketplace? 828-251-1333 landrews@mountainx.com • mountainx.com/classifieds If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Remember the Russian proverb: “Doveryai, no proveryai,” trust but verify. When answering classified ads, always err on the side of caution. Especially beware of any party asking you to give them financial or identification information. The Mountain Xpress cannot be responsible for ensuring that each advertising client is legitimate. Please report scams to ads@mountainx.com REAL ESTATE HOMES FOR SALE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY HOME FOR SALE 4/3.5, 3+ acres in a peaceful Flat Rock neighborhood, fruit trees, in-ground pool, koi pond, Jacuzzi bath, cook’s kitchen, solar panels, woodstove, many extras. $540K Virtual showings available. (828) 699-4994

RENTALS SHORT-TERM RENTALS SHORT TERM/VACATION RENTAL Great for relocations, short term assignments, local events, etc. $1600/month, $700/ week, $175/day, 2 day minimum.

Weaverville area, 15 minutes to Asheville. 828-231-9145

EMPLOYMENT GENERAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF EBLEN CHARITIES The Board of Directors is actively seeking an Executive Director to lead Eblen Charities, an Asheville, North Carolina non-profit that has been serving our community since 1991. For details visit www.eblencharities.org TROLLEY TOUR GUIDES If you are a "people person," love Asheville, have a valid Commercial Driver's License (CDL) and clean driving record you could be a great Tour Guide. Full-time and seasonal part-time positions available. Training provided. Contact us today! 828 251-8687.Info@ GrayLineAsheville. com www.

GrayLineAsheville.com

HUMAN SERVICES YOUTH COORDINATOR FULL TIME (NON-EXEMPT) The Youth Coordinator recruits, educates, empowers and serves youth with disabilities regarding disability-related issues, resources,

advocacy, peer support and CAREER TRAINING transitioning into adulthood.

TRAIN ONLINE TO DO The Youth Coordinator is MEDICAL BILLING! Become a responsible for developing and Medical Office Professional online implementing youth programs at CTI! Get Trained, Certified & and services, youth outreach activities and events, delivering ready to work in months! Call 866-243-5931. M-F 8am-6pm independent living services to ET) (AAN CAN) youth, helping youth develop and implement independent living transition plans. Conduct XCHANGE public education regarding disability issues, independent living WANTED services and DisAbility Partners.

Application packets can be picked CONCRETE YARD DEER Call up at the DisAbility Partners "Red" at 828-682-1212 or 954office at 108 New Leicester 496-9000.

Hwy Asheville 28806 or requested via email at krodriguez@ SERVICES disabilitypartners.org NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE

TEACHING/ EDUCATION GRADES 2-3 MATH/ SCIENCE TEACHER AND GRADES K-8 PE/ OUTDOOR ED TEACHER Come join our dynamic teaching team! FMI about each position, visit thelearningcommunity.org/ employment-opportunities/ 828-686-3080 employment@ thelearningcommunity.org OVERNIGHT RESIDENTIAL COACH Black Mountain Academy is seeking Overnight Residential Coaches for 3rd shift to work at our therapeutic boarding school supporting adolescent males with Level 1 (high-functioning) Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) or who have social challenges, anxiety, and difficulty in traditional academic settings. The ideal candidate has experience with this population of students, is student-centered in their approach, and is flexible.

Duties include, but are not limited to, facilitating night time and morning routines, assisting with meal preparation, some cleaning, and data entry. All candidates must be 21 years old or older.

Please see our website for more information about the school, theblackmountainacademy.com.

Interested candidates, please send your resume and cover letter.

DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR

ARTHUR MORGAN SCHOOL Arthur Morgan School is a junior boarding and day school offering progressive education for grades 7-9 in the South Toe Valley of Yancey County, NC. The Development Coordinator is part of a close-knit community devoted to collaborative decision making and students’ long-term success.

Position responsibilities include developing and implementing a fundraising strategy and budget in consultation with the Board Fundraising Committee and staff members. Integral to success is growing the donor base and oversight of the Annual Fund and an annual Scholarship Fundraising event as well as management of the Scholarship and Endowment Funds. The position requires a commitment of 28 hrs/wk.

For a complete job description and application information visit www.arthurmorganschool.org

CAREGIVERS

COMPANION • CAREGIVER • LIVE-IN Alzheimer's experienced.

• Heart failure and bed sore care.

• Hospice reference letter. • Nonsmoker, with cat, seeks live-in position. • References. • Arnold, (828) 273-2922.

COMPUTER COMPUTER ISSUES? GEEKS ON SITE provides FREE diagnosis REMOTELY 24/7 SERVICE DURING COVID19. No home visit necessary. $40 OFF with coupon 86407! Restrictions apply.

866-939-0093

HOME IMPROVEMENT CONSTRUCTION SEALCOATING & ASPHALT DRIVEWAY REPAIRS Fully insured Asphalt repair business, 10+yrs experience. Specializing in sealcoat. Pressure washing, crack fill & small asphalt patch repair options available. Call for free estimate. Asphalt Resurfacing Technicians LLC (828)206-9284

GENERAL SERVICES FOR ALL YOUR HOME IMPROVEMENTS & REPAIRS Call C & S for all home repairs including roofing, flooring, windows, doors, decks and masonry underpinning. Leroy Carver 828-620-8061

HANDY MAN SKILLED CARPENTER W/ EXP. IN ALL HOME BUILDING ASPECTS New Local Small Business needing support for Carpenter with growing family. 25+years exp in building, remodeling, finish work. Call or email, free consultation. Matthew Matulia Mjm.clientservice@gmail.com Mobile: (631)463-6777 Home: (828)398-1512 mjmfinishing.com

ANNOUNCEMENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS NOTICE OF UNCLAIMED PROPERTY The following is a list of unclaimed and confiscated property at the Asheville Police Department: electronic equipment; cameras; clothing; lawn and garden equipment; personal items; tools; weapons (including

firearms): jewelry: automotive items; building supplies; bikes and other miscellaneous items.

Anyone with a legitimate claim or interest in this property has 30 days from the date of this publication to make a claim.

Unclaimed items will be disposed of according to statutory law.

For further information, or to file a claim, contact the Asheville Police Department Property and Evidence Section, 828-232-4576.

NOTICE OF DISPOSITION The following is a list of unclaimed and confiscated property at the Asheville Police Department tagged for disposition: audio and video equipment; cameras; clothing; lawn and garden equipment; personal items; tools; weapons (including firearms): jewelry: automotive items; building supplies; bikes and other miscellaneous.

All items will be disposed of 30 days from date of posting. Items to be auctioned will be displayed on www.propertyroom.com.

LEGAL NOTICES BOY SCOUT COMPENSATION FUND Anyone that was inappropriately touched by a Scout leader deserves justice and financial compensation! Victims may be eligible for a significant cash settlement.

Time to file is limited. Call Now! 844-896-8216 (AAN CAN)

MIND, BODY, SPIRIT BODYWORK TRANSFORMATIONAL MASSAGE THERAPY Frank Solomon Connelly [FaceBook] So: with all this craziness [by the way, the opposite of fear is Faith/Hope] going on; I wanted to remind everyone that I do House-Calls.

I come to your nice Clean space, with my very Power-Filled, Mother Nature based Immunity System [and I will never violate anyone!

If God/Goddess tells me I am infected; I will Quarantine {but not until then}!] to help you connect to that same God/Goddess filled connection to help you overcome fear/tension and return to KNOWING God/Goddess's Got This! And! I only charge $60 for a 1.5 to 2 hour, deeply transforming, massage :) Give me a call at (828) 707-2983, and I will do what I can to Help You feel more at Peace. :) Thank You! (828) 707-2983 Creator_of_Joy@Hotmail.com, FB: shorturl.at/qxT07

ADULT ADULT FEELING WHACKED? Let Kaye's revive you back! Incall/Outcall 280-8182

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15 Not raise or fold 16 *In rapid succession, in slang

edited by Will Shortz 17 Sister channel of HBO and TBS 18 *Bonkers 19 Club for drivers 21 Predetermined cost 23 Group without power?

25 Orthodontist’s recommendation 26 Madison Ave. bigwig 29 Penne ___ vodka 31 Resident of a hobby farm 32 Dwarf friend of Bilbo in “The Hobbit” 33 Thick, liquidy servings 35 *“Cheers!”

36 What’s found once in a generation?

37 *Dismiss lightly 41 Big oaf 43 Pageant crown 44 Apr. 15 payment recipient 47 Box office smash, in slang 48 Paid-for trip 49 Gets ready to drive 51 Swiss currency

No. 0429

puzzle by Joe Dipietro

53 Worry too much 55 In the very recent past 59 *Storied New York prison 60 Little bit of color 62 *“On the double!”

63 Diva’s delivery 64 “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night …,” for postal workers 65 Sole 66 Cub Scout units 67 *“Amen to that!”

68 Checked out

8 Rolling textual coverage of an event 9 Capital of Ghana 10 Percussion instrument often used in calypso music 11 Typewriter roller 12 Most cunning 14 Zeno, for one 20 Eclipse, for some 22 Setup for a police sting 24 Discounted 50% … or a hint to the answers to the starred clues 26 Network that aired “Happy Days” and “Laverne & Shirley” 27 Morse code unit 28 QB Manning 30 Former Mississippi senator Trent 33 Slip-up 34 Last part of a machine wash 36 Softball designation 38 Imparter of flavor to cabernet sauvignon wines

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1 Wandering sort 2 Actor McGregor 3 Betting odds 4 Certain hair removal technique 5 “The most powerful drug used by mankind”: Rudyard Kipling 6 Internet address suffix 7 A whole bunch

39 Certain freight car cargo 40 Makeshift donation receptacle 42 Border on 43 Fish sometimes served tartare 44 “So tragic” 45 Give an electrical overhaul 46 Escorted out of the rain, say

48 Feeling “been there, done that,” say 50 Heroic tales 52 Wild party 54 Pit stop replacement, often 56 Greeting at sea 57 Vanished 58 ___ piece 61 Big funder of cultural orgs.

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS NY TIMES PUZZLE

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