OUR 27TH YEAR OF WEEKLY INDEPENDENT NEWS, ARTS & EVENTS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA VOL. 27 NO. 46 JUNE 16-22, 2021
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JUNE 16-22, 2021
MOUNTAINX.COM
C ONTENT S
NEWS
NEWS
FEATURES 10 COME AS YOU ARE Low-barrier shelters may fill temporary housing gaps
14 GREEN ROUNDUP Solarize reaches lowest pricing for community solar
PAGE 24 UNDER THE BIG TOP Two of Asheville’s most enduring art deco architectural masterpieces — the Grove Arcade and S&W Building — are bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic as vibrant community gathering spots. Food and drink are the key ingredients, with 18 locally owned hospitality businesses soon to be open across the two buildings.
FEATURE
COVER PHOTO Ellington Realty Group 18 Q&A Chief District Court Judge J. Calvin Hill speaks with Xpress
COVER DESIGN Scott Southwick
4 LETTERS
WELLNESS
22 FIRST, DO NO HARM WNC health care providers change how they prescribe opioids
A&C
4 CARTOON: MOLTON
26 A SPIRITED HISTORY New documentary film dispels myths about moonshining
7 CARTOON: BRENT BROWN 8 COMMENTARY 10 NEWS 16 BUNCOMBE BEAT 20 COMMUNITY CALENDAR 22 WELLNESS 24 ARTS & CULTURE 32 CLUBLAND
A&C
34 FREEWILL ASTROLOGY 27 MULTIPLAYER Local board game designers unite
34 CLASSIFIEDS 35 NY TIMES CROSSWORD
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STA F F PUBLISHER & EDITOR: Jeff Fobes ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER: Susan Hutchinson EDITOR: Thomas Calder ASSISTANT EDITOR: Daniel Walton ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR: Thomas Calder OPINION EDITOR: Tracy Rose STAFF REPORTERS: Able Allen, Edwin Arnaudin, Thomas Calder, Cayla Clark, Brooke Randle, Jessica Wakeman, Daniel Walton COMMUNITY CALENDAR & CLUBLAND: Cayla Clark CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Peter Gregutt, Rob Mikulak REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Mark Barrett, Leslie Boyd, Bill Kopp, Cindy Kunst, Gina Smith, Kay West ADVERTISING, ART & DESIGN MANAGER: Susan Hutchinson LEAD DESIGNER: Scott Southwick GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Olivia Urban MARKETING ASSOCIATES: Sara Brecht, David Furr, Andy Hall, Tiffany Wagner OPERATIONS MANAGER: Able Allen INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES & WEB: Bowman Kelley BOOKKEEPER: Amie Fowler-Tanner ADMINISTRATION, BILLING, HR: Able Allen, Jennifer Castillo DISTRIBUTION: Susan Hutchinson, Cindy Kunst DISTRIBUTION DRIVERS: Desiree Davis, Henry Mitchell, Tiffany Narron, Kelley Quigley, Angelo Santa Maria, Carl & Debbie Schweiger, Jess Traver
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MOUNTAINX.COM
JUNE 16-22, 2021
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OPINION
Send your letters to the editor to letters@mountainx.com.
Will marketing make us ‘Myrtle Beach of the Mountains’? Your headline was there on the page like business as usual — not surrounded by giant, bold, eye-roll emoji, not displayed in 72-point disaster caps. I couldn’t believe it. “BCTDA Plans $15M in Marketing for 2021-22” [June 2, Xpress]. What world are they living in? Isn’t this like telling a family of eight living in a two-room house that you’re persuading a couple of baseball teams to move in with them? At 2 p.m. Tuesday, it took 40 minutes to navigate downtown traffic. Today, I spent 30 minutes trying to go four blocks on Haywood Road. I couldn’t find a simple breakfast anywhere without a long line of customers waiting. Montford and downtown were mobbed. If there’s budget waiting to be spent, give it to public services or underserved families, and let the marketing take care of itself. Or embrace a new tag line — Myrtle Beach of the Mountains. — Bebe Kern Emma
See (the new) Rock City Recently, the N.C. Court of Appeals issued an order to stop the further dismantling of the Vance Monument while the court begins a interminable battle between the city of Asheville and the Civil War preservationists as to who cast the first stone. What a great opportunity for Asheville and the Chamber of Commerce to pronounce Asheville as Rock City, N.C., in competition with Rock City, Tenn. Just drive up Patton Avenue to Granite Gulch, now known as Rocky Top. We could have an authentic rock concert where people will get so stoned that they won’t even remember who Zeblum Bear Vunce was. We could be entertained by a local group known as the Rock Pack. Chubby Checker could sing “Rock Around the Block,” and the Flintstones could lead the annual Pebbles parade pushing their little nuggets in perambulators, just like we did during the Rhododendron Festival many years ago. High school and college graduations will celebrate here, wearing real mortarboards. Until this matter is settled, there are so many uses for the stones. One could be put at the intersection of Patton and Biltmore avenues and be known as the Corner Stone. One could be moved behind the courthouse at the detention center and be dedicated as the Jailhouse Rock. 4
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C AR T O O N B Y RA N D Y MO L TO N Local artists could paint pictures of beautiful smiling children on some of them, and they would be known as Precious Stones. Graffiti artists could splatter their toxic paint all over their adopted “pet rock.” For people of faith, we could have the Ten Commandments engraved on the face of one of these rocks. I am sure that some astute restaurant owner will immediately open a Hard Rock Café featuring Paul Masonry wine, and street vendors will hawk rock candy. City Council could use that $80,000 consulting money to plant flowers and trees in an authentic rock garden enhanced with rocking chairs for our elderly citizens and the stoners. Of course, any effort to rename the Jackson Building the Stonewall Jackson Building will be immediately quashed for political incorrectness. The important thing is to keep this display of the massive stones interesting, so it will be important to move the boulders around occasionally and make sure we leave no stone unturned. — Jerry Sternberg Asheville Editor’s note: Since this letter was submitted last week, the stones have indeed been moved around — out of Pack Square — though the city did not disclose their new storage location, according to a report from WLOS.
Charlotte Street development: Your quiet street is next Will the mayor honor campaign goals to create “form-based code” to
support “controlled growth … that will protect the character of neighborhoods and business districts even as we grow to create more opportunities to live, work and raise families” as in other historic cities? These 18 affordable housing units disappear in 20 years to zero affordable housing. Are people under the impression these developments are all affordable and permanent? They are not. The preservation plan example creates more units and permanent affordable housing! Every visionary city plan with citizen input here was created exactly to prevent this type of intrusion and destruction. Developers have contempt for “old” plans and for the citizens who developed them, though with majority priorities, including growth within the character of the area, which they never mention. Far from old, the most recent is just implemented with the completion of the “road diet” for safety of walkers, bikers and business patrons. We are no “gang” (nor in conspiracy about the military-industrial complex as accused by a recent writer), but economically, socially and racially diverse. Cottages, bungalows and apartments hold service staff to students to professionals. We want development that conforms to the multiple city plans that do not include rezoning. Even “city staff” has recommended this be denied to Planning and Zoning. P&Z has ignored its own staff recommendations to deny it. Four-story buildings with dense occupancy do not belong on narrow little Charlotte Street. You don’t even
see that on crowded, commercial Merrimon Avenue from Claxton to Beaver Lake! Traffic for two developments with almost 400 units is not an “inconvenience,” but a dangerous daily burden. We are a small neighborhood street that began as a small village street and still is. — Kieta Osteen-Cochrane Asheville
Charlotte Street development won’t destroy neighborhood Many thanks to Mountain Xpress for presenting a range of views on the proposed Charlotte Street development. Representing unabashed elitism, Annelise Mundy contends that hotel workers and others who cannot afford Asheville rents should just live elsewhere, away from the city center or in surrounding counties [“Dense Development Will Ruin Asheville Forever,” June 9]. She warns us that Asheville is becoming another Austin, but she seems to want it to be another Ashland — I refer to the town in southern Oregon where housing has
become so expensive that most who work there must drive in from 20 or 30 miles away. Ms. Mundy also seems not to consider that more housing farther out means more destruction of forests and farmland, as well as more traffic and more carbon in the atmosphere (since those living far from work and amenities must make more frequent and longer car trips). Jessie Landl offers a more reasonable argument in opposition to the project, and she makes a good point about how little low-income housing it will create [“What Is Smart Growth? A Better Solution for Charlotte Street,” June 9]. But unlike her own proposal for the site, the development would make many homes available to middle-income people who cannot afford a free-standing house in a centrally located neighborhood. And I’m afraid her article, too, has a whiff of elitism, when she quotes a historic preservation advocate who claims that you can’t build affordable housing without building “crap.” The essential facts are: The development is to be built on a main road, in the middle of a long-established commercial strip; it will not destroy some quiet neighborhood. The houses to be torn down are old but not partic-
ularly distinguished; there were will be no significant loss of architectural heritage. New housing units near the urban core and public transportation will be available to middle-income people (and a few low-income people). If such a project is not acceptable to preservationists and neighborhood advocates, it is hard to imagine what sort of development would be. — Michael Bell Asheville
Asheville High School’s COVID-19 schedule First semester, Asheville High School students took four classes, all online, at home in front of a computer. The schedule was and is: first period, 9-9:45 a.m.; second period, 9:50-10:35 a.m.; third period, 10:40–11:25 a.m.; and fourth period, 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. The last weeks of March, Asheville High moved to having classes in the school. They were in school every other week. It works like this: The kids are put in “hubs.” These are small groups of students, about half the size of a regular class. The students and teachers pick the spe-
cifics, but they are loosely related to one of the student’s classes. Let’s use Angela for an example. Angela takes first-period art, second-period English, third-period math and fourth-period science. Her hub is loosely based upon third-period math. Under the new in-class program, Angela goes to school and goes to her hub, where she stays all day. In her hub, she takes first-period art online (she has her computer). She takes second-period English online. Her math teacher has been in the room with the hub all morning teaching his other classes. But for third period, he has students in front of him. But he is still teaching his lessons online. So, Angela gets a real teacher for third period. Or sort of a real teacher. The math teacher is still responsible for the other half of the class, that half that is in the Green group and learning from home. Fourth period, Angela has science, and she is still in her hub and still online. After fourth period, they bring lunch to the students. Apparently, the students order their daily lunch
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MOUNTAINX.COM
JUNE 16-22, 2021
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OPI N I ON
Send your letters to the editor to letters@mountainx.com.
early in the morning. Lunch is free. (Who says there is no such thing as a free lunch?) The students in school do not leave until 2:30. During the last two hours, the students stay with their hub group. The group can go outside and wander around a little. There is some flexibility, but the group remains intact. At the end of the day, their ride home (mother) comes in off Victoria Road. The students, still in their hub, are called, and they go out alone to their ride. This strange dance is coordinated by two groups of school personnel: one team for the front door and one team for the Victoria Road door (school buses in front). The school is divided into the Green group and the Blue group. So, the students alternate this schedule with totally online as before. Every other week. Oh, and Friday is back to online for everyone. — John Brigham Asheville
Asheville is missing the Good Neighbor clause Anyone can come, especially those who love it here, they say. Did you move here to live — to be part of this atmosphere? Right, you can develop using human genius — hmm, and fill in the spaces. Hmm. In some countries, existing cities are being greatly improved through better thinking (green), but how many people can you get in a rowboat — feed and care for? The debate over impact is ongoing, so maybe the question is how many are too much; the only thing going forth and multiplying harmoniously is the virus. Like all addictions, weaning off is a direct determination endeavor — don’t leave it for next year’s child with backward thinking supporting Murder Weapon industries with slogans such as “good-paying jobs” or “support local families.” This is an attack against sanity when murder weapons’ industries continue to thrive. Good life begins in the heart, not Raytheon, and not from the money collectors or Washington. — David Reilly Black Mountain
Gym has offered safe, supportive environment during pandemic I would like to acknowledge our local family-owned and -oper6
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ated gym, Asheville Community Movement. Their staff and owners, Becca Hall and Angie Trail, have provided such a safe and supportive environment for our community’s children during this pandemic. From the very beginning of the pandemic, ACM established guidelines in line with CDC recommendations and stuck to them this whole time. All while still providing a safe and fun place for children to be physically active and remain fit despite the closure of team sports and school gymnasiums. In addition to physical support, I witnessed coaches at ACM role model vulnerability and honesty about the difficulty of living through a pandemic on multiple occasions. ACM has always been about more than gymnastics, and this past year, that has mattered more than ever. They truly value fostering “an internal strength that contributes to the development of confident, competent people” (quote taken from its website). As a business owner myself, I know that this past year has had even more moments of uncertainty than usual. It was a huge risk for a lot of businesses to remain open this year. Our local family businesses are asked to take on massive amounts of risk, even in the best of times. During these worst of times, these same businesses buckled down and took on even more for the greater good. Thank you ACM, we are truly grateful! — Becca Nestler and Annabelle Beltrami (9-year-old gymnast) Asheville
Asheville, we need to invest in ourselves [Regarding the letter, “Asheville Is ‘Sold Out,’” June 2, Xpress]: Asheville has been and is popular for many reasons, not least if which is its climate, its welcoming nature and its counterculture vibe. It has more than its share of growing pains, and the way it has grown sometimes works against itself. One easy example is South Asheville. Take a drive on Hendersonville Road. Endless retail strips, mini-malls, chain restaurants, gas stations, ad nauseam — indistinguishable from suburban Chicago or Atlanta or you-name-it big city. Built exclusively for the privileged in their ubiquitous oversized vehicles. Ugly, messy, maddening traffic. Public transportation and pedestrian movement is an afterthought, at best. Outside of downtown (gotta impress the tourists) and tonier neighborhoods, there are no bus
CARTOON BY BRENT BROWN shelters to get out of the sun or rain. Long stretches of road everywhere without sidewalks. Tourism rules, but unless the city focuses on a robust, growing local economy for its residents, it will become less desirable as a vacation spot. We need to invest in ourselves — pay living wages, build or convert affordable housing, expand public transportation, house the homeless, focus spending on the people who live here. — Jack Hafeli Asheville
Goodbye, once-beautiful Asheville We moved here 10 years ago, but between the nasty-ass tourists and the ridiculously bad crime rate per capita, we also have decided to move away. Goodbye, once-beautiful Asheville, we’re glad we got to know you way back when you were still awesome. — Dan Swing Asheville
Is Asheville ‘sold out’? Yes. Once a lovely, quaint town, it is overdeveloped. Sad to say, I
may move away sometime in the future. Time to close the gateway to Asheville. Sigh ... — Sherrie Mirsky Asheville
Hoping that Asheville isn’t ‘sold out’ I hope Asheville is not sold out [“Asheville Is ‘Sold Out,’” June 2, Xpress]. I have been planning to move there from Charlotte for over 10 years. I love the area, and there is a great deal of room, just not necessarily “in Asheville,” but all surrounding areas. I have done a lot of scoping from all four sides of Asheville and can say that the side toward Hendersonville is getting full, as well as the side going toward Swannanoa. The side toward Weaverville and the side toward Canton have a lot of growth to go. But ask me again in 10-15 years, and maybe it may be all full. You also need to count population attrition and turnover due to advancing age. In any event, you live in God’s country and should not screw it up by being Adam and Eve. You know what happened to them. — Gil Borrero Charlotte MOUNTAINX.COM
JUNE 16-22, 2021
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OPINION
Cutting through the clamor Asheville needs less shouting, more listening
BY KATHRYN LISS Asheville these days is struggling with how to address the many conundrums we face as a diverse and growing community, but a bit of local history may point the way forward. Conflict is normal and natural: It can be constructive or destructive depending on how it’s handled.
A WHOLE-COMMUNITY APPROACH
In the late 1990s, Asheville and Buncombe County residents found themselves at loggerheads over conflicting visions for the area’s future. Recognizing that this was hindering progress, they hired a consultant who convened a community input session to talk about what should be done. Hundreds of residents got involved, and out of that, Asheville-Buncombe VISION was created. The nonprofit’s
board included community leaders as well as representatives of city and county government, academia and the private sector. Together, they set goals and benchmarks for the area’s future; a subcommittee was charged with designing a process for engaging the wider community in decision-making. Oralene Simmons and I co-chaired the subcommittee. We chose a process based on the work of the Study Circles Resource Center. (This national organization, now called Everyday Democracy, was also the basis for the Asheville-based nonprofit Building Bridges.) Once we’d determined the design of the dialogues that would be a key part of the process, a new committee was structured to identify specific topics and fill in the details. Annually for five years, that committee chose an issue for the whole community to look at and developed materials to guide that year’s discussion.
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Typically, about 150 city and county residents would get together to talk about the chosen topic, which could be anything from smart growth to transportation. The whole group began by meeting with people who were knowledgeable about the subject. Fortified by that knowledge base, small, facilitated groups assembled for several weeks in firehouses and libraries around the county to create relationships and consider the pertinent concerns. At the end, the whole group met again, but this time with people who had the authority to make the ideas presented by the small groups actually happen. Some of those recommendations were implemented, such as establishing bus service to Black Mountain. This structure enabled participants to both learn more about the subject and, in the small groups, gain a better understanding of how various options would affect different residents. Taking time to get acquainted helped ensure that really caring about people’s needs was a key component. During the brainstorming sessions, people had an opportunity to modify their suggestions to acknowledge others’ needs as well as their own. In doing this, we found mutually agreeable solutions.
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ONE-WAY LISTENING
Twenty years later, perhaps it’s time to revisit this process to help us find new solutions for a community that’s overwhelmed by growth-related issues and underwhelmed with employment opportunities that match the cost of living — a community that’s rich in ideas for improvement but short on agreement. Currently, the way we’re addressing those needs is to scream at each other without a lot of listening. I believe that local leaders are eager for community input, but because of the way that input is structured, it becomes essentially one-way listening: Individual citizens fling their ideas at leaders in hopes of somehow getting what they want, without regard for the needs of their fellow community members. With this approach, whatever leadership does, it won’t satisfy either side. The decision on the Vance Monument is a good example. A commission consisting of good, thoughtful people made a recommendation; City Council and the county commissioners accepted it. But there’s been continuing resistance to the decision because it wasn’t reached collaboratively by all elements of the community. A different process might have produced the same decision, but it would have been accepted better if everyone had felt heard and had a chance to hear the thinking of those who disagree with them, particularly if it were done in a context of caring about each other.
CONTINUITY AND CHANGE
Today, a number of key local government leaders are newcomers to Asheville. The constant influx of new people means we’re losing our history. Yes, we have processes for “public input,” but instead of helping generate consensus, they’re leading to ever greater divergence of views. Each segment of the community is yelling at the elected officials to promote its particular point of view, but there’s no structure for helping us all listen to one another across differences, en route to achieving mutually agreeable solutions.
KATHRYN LISS
“Conflict can be constructive or destructive depending on how it’s handled.” The Everyday Democracy structure is only one of many that have been created over the last 20 years to bring people together; another is what are called “citizen assemblies.” Various processes for addressing different needs can be found on the website of the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation. Enabling citizens to talk and listen to one another helps us discover a spectrum of ideas, rather than being trapped in false dualities. Meeting other community members and learning about them helps us recognize our common humanity and mitigates our differences in outlook. To prosper at this stage in history, we must both respect those who have come before and learn to integrate newcomers into our community. There are still many people here with generational roots, but because of wide-ranging changes in climate and politics, we’re attracting many people from across the country. Let’s take this opportunity to get to know one another in ways that help us solve problems together rather than further dividing us. I have no doubt that, just as happened 20 years ago, we can craft alternative futures that will serve community members of all backgrounds. Asheville resident Kathryn Liss, the former director of training for The Mediation Center, is a longtime volunteer with Building Bridges who has taught at Mars Hill University and serves as a consultant on equity and inclusion. She can be reached at Kliss@igc.org. X
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JUNE 16-22, 2021
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NEWS
Come as you are
Low-barrier shelters may fill temporary housing gaps
BY BROOKE RANDLE brandle@mountainx.com Housing for everyone — no exceptions. That’s the model a coalition of as many as 35 organizations is recommending to the city of Asheville as they seek to house people who find difficulty in meeting the criteria to stay in existing shelters. Newly formed Asheville nonprofit Accessing Needed Crisis and Critical Help Outreach and Resources, or ANCHOR, is proposing a low-barrier, high-access shelter within the city that would forgo many of the usual rules for tenants. Different organizations currently tackle aspects of homelessness in Asheville. The Western Carolina Rescue Mission, Salvation Army, Haywood Street Respite and Helpmate provide overnight care; Homeward Bound has a robust array of permanent supported housing; and the Asheville Buncombe
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DREAM TEAM: A coalition of mental health workers, homeless service providers, addiction specialists and more make up a new nonprofit, ANCHOR, aimed at addressing homelessness and its causes. Pictured, from left, are Amy Upham, Sally Stein, Robert Stevenson, Colleen Barcus and Derrick Hall. Photo courtesy of Upham Community Christian Ministry has expanded transitional housing for women and children through its Transformation Village. But the addition of a low-barrier facility, argues ANCHOR founding member Derrick Hall, may help the city fill in the gaps of traditional homelessness services. “There are so many reasons why shelters might be used or not used by people. There are a lot of groups that don’t necessarily find the existing shelters to be safe,” says Hall, the director of adult enhanced services at the nonprofit Family Preservation Services. “This would be a shelter that intentionally removes barriers to entrance, but it’s also a shelter that works to be very intentional in being a compassionate place and a nonjudgemental
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place where people can feel that they can arrive.” The proposed shelter would serve roughly 100 people per night, provide on-site medical and mental health services and include a range of specialists from existing organizations and agencies. Startup costs could reach $6.5 million, with annual operating costs of $3 million, and would initially be funded through some of Asheville’s approximately $26.1 million in anticipated federal coronavirus relief funds. ANCHOR suggests its approach would lower emergency room visits and jail intakes and reduce the number of people sleeping on public property. Some homeless service providers, however, question the safety and feasibility of the shelter model.
A GROWING CONCERN
While the overall number of unhoused people in Asheville fell by about 4% from 2020 to 2021, the number of those residents who slept on the streets and in encampments rather than in a shelter grew by 78% over the same period, according to the city’s annual Point-inTime survey conducted in January. The survey recorded 116 unhoused people, over a fifth of the city’s total homeless population. Some of that increase can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, as shelters limited capacity or required a negative COVID-19 test for entry to protect tenants and staff, according to a city press
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release. But Hall argues that the rules and requirements at facilities around town are also keeping some of Asheville’s homeless population from seeking shelter. “In a low-barrier shelter as we’re conceiving it and we’re proposing it, if we see a barrier, take it down. That’s how it works,” says Hall. “As an example, there would be no such restriction on whether you’re currently using [drugs] or not.” Tenants would be admitted regardless of if they had an ID or wanted to cohabitate with a partner or spouse. A part of the proposed shelter would allow pets and might also include outdoor kennels for animals that become aggressive. Some regulations would remain: Weapons checks would be routine at the point of entry, and drugs and alcohol would not be allowed on the property. Fifty-one-year-old Kenneth Jackson, who has been homeless since January, says that he hasn’t found temporary housing that would admit him and his companion, a 95-pound German shepherd named Rio. “Rio makes a world of difference in my life. He gives me a good sense of purpose,” Jackson says. “He sleeps in the bed with me. There’s dog hair, but we stay clean and well fed. He’s my whole world.” Jackson says that he has resorted to camping behind local businesses until he can find housing for both himself and his dog. Hall adds that while some barriers come from shelter rules, such as an ID requirement, other exist in the minds of unhoused people. Members of disenfranchised groups or the LGBTQ community may not feel safe in traditional shelters or be put off by religious messaging. Others may fear authority or judgment if they are currently using drugs or alcohol.
COMING TOGETHER
Collaboration is also key to the proposed shelter, says Sally Stein, a retired psychiatric nurse, licensed clinical social worker and ANCHOR co-founder. Because unhoused people often face additional problems such as mental health issues and unemployment, she explains, no one organization can guarantee their stability. To succeed, Stein continues, the shelter needs to be staffed by community partners, including Homeward Bound, Vaya Health, the Mountain Area Health Education Center, Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness and oth-
ers with a range of expertise and experience. City of Asheville and Buncombe County staff would also be part of the team. ANCHOR would oversee the operation, while Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness would be the fiscal manager for any funds that the shelter receives and contract with other organizations. Staff members would be trained in overdose response, CPR, trauma responsive care and would participate in ongoing equity work, including receiving training from the Umoja Health, Wellness and Justice Collective. County emergency medical services would be available on-site 24 hours per day in an effort to reduce emergency room visits.
ON THE FENCE
But not everyone is convinced that the new shelter would solve homelessness in Asheville. Scott Rogers, who heads ABCCM, says that while his organization is a part of the conversation, he’d like a clearer definition of the city’s needs and expectations for the shelter before throwing his support behind the idea. “Just because somebody says, ‘I don’t like the rules at this shelter or this place,’ shouldn’t be the criteria for whether or not we need another shelter,” he explains. “I think it ought to be based on the need.” Outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rogers argues that serving Asheville’s homeless population has become more difficult because of increases in drug use and the resulting or concurring mental health crises. He also says that while Asheville’s chronically homeless population has stayed roughly the same for the last few years, summertime brings travelers and those who “choose a homeless lifestyle” for social or political reasons. “That population swells tremendously between April and October in Asheville,” Rogers says. “I think we really have to be careful not to try to solve a problem that only temporarily exists because of the pandemic, and we have to try to solve the real issues of both mental health and substance abuse and alternative lifestyle choices that are putting people in the place of not having a home.” And Asheville City Council member Gwen Wisler voiced her concern about the city getting involved before a May 11 closed session that she said was to discuss the potential purchase of a shelter property. While she acknowledged that gov-
“We also want to ensure a shelter location would have enough space for both beds and on-site services, like medical and behavioral health care,” she says. The city plans to release a request for proposals for the work and seek input from the community about how the shelter would be run over the next few months. A presentation is also scheduled to go before Asheville City Council in July. With that work ahead, Stein thinks that getting the low-bar-
rier shelter off the ground will still take months of planning and development. She estimates that, if approved, the shelter would likely not open until sometime in 2022. In the meantime, Stein says that getting both homeless service providers the community on board with the project will be her focus. “We need to prove to our city and our constituents that this really works and saves money and helps people,” she says. X
You know us in print each week. A PLACE TO CALL HOME: Kenneth Jackson says that he has resorted to camping behind local businesses until he can find temporary housing for both himself and his dog, Rio. The proposed low-barrier shelter would provide homeless residents and their animals a place to stay. Photo by Brooke Randle ernment should play a significant part in fighting homelessness, she argued that the city was unprepared to take on the “lead agency” role represented by the shelter. “No one wants the city’s parks and open spaces taken over by homeless camps,” Wisler said. “However, the city has no or very little expertise with running a shelter or providing wraparound services.” Both Hall and Stein say that low-barrier shelters have proved to be safe in communities that have built them and do not lead to an increase in drug or alcohol consumption. “The bigger concern for me might be that it might increase the number of folks that end up in our community because they’ve heard good things about what’s going on. I think that might be an unintended secondary problem,” says Stein. “I don’t know what kind of responses we will have; what I can assure you is that if ANCHOR is involved in
the high-access shelter, they will make sure that the outcomes are being followed and we’re tracking who these people are, where they came from.”
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Many details about the proposed shelter have yet to be determined, such as whether the shelter building would be newly constructed or upfitted from an existing property. Wisler also pointed out that the city hasn’t identified a continuing revenue stream to support shelter operations once the window for spending federal coronavirus relief expires in 2024. Emily Ball, who leads Asheville’s coordination with community homelessness organizations, says that the structure would need to be located on a transit line to ensure access and transportation to other services in the community.
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JUNE 16-22, 2021
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GREEN ROUNDUP by Daniel Walton | dwalton@mountainx.com
Solarize reaches lowest pricing for community solar Due to high community demand, the Solarize Asheville-Buncombe campaign is now able to offer its lowest possible price for solar energy systems. The Solarize rate of $2.45 per watt of electricity generation is roughly 9% cheaper than the statewide average of $2.67 per watt listed by EnergySage, an industry website. As previously reported by Xpress (see “Sunshine Coalition,” Feb. 17), the program, spearheaded by the nonprofit Blue Horizons Project, offers bulk purchasing of solar equipment for local residents and businesses as a way to reduce the cost of renewable energy. Since the Solarize launch in April, 75 homeowners have completed contracts that together total over 600 kilowatts of generation capacity. An online information session is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 16, with registration available at avl.mx/9ko. Enrollment in the campaign will continue through Tuesday, Aug. 31. Limited financial assistance is available for lowand medium-income households through the Neighbor to Neighbor Solar program. More information and applications are available at avl.mx/9ai.
NCDACS, Buncombe Farm Bureau Insurance and the Buncombe Farm Bureau nonprofit board for initial app startup costs. Those interested in joining should contact Avni Naik at Avni.Naik@ BuncombeCounty.org. More information on the app is available at VisitNCFarmsToday.com.
Lenoir-Rhyne seeks input on Central Asheville Watershed survey Researchers with Lenoir-Rhyne University in Asheville want to know how community members understand stormwater management and green infrastructure in their own backyards. A new survey, available at avl.mx/9it, asks about water quality and flooding concerns in the Central Asheville Watershed. Conducted in conjunction with Asheville-based nonprofit RiverLink and Blue Earth Planning, the questionnaire covers an area with three urban streams — Town Branch (aka Nasty Branch), Bacoate Branch and Haith Branch — that drain into the French Broad River as it flows through the city. RiverLink completed a restoration plan for the watershed in August 2020, and the survey will help guide decisions regarding its implementation. A Spanish version of the survey is also available at avl.mx/9iu.
Energy Savers Network to weatherize 1,000 Asheville apartments From 2017-20, about 500 families were helped by the Energy Savers Network, a program of the Ashevillebased nonprofit Green Built Alliance dedicated to lowering energy costs for low-income residents. Over the next year, the initiative hopes to serve double that number through a contract with the city of Asheville. In a press release, ESN announced that it would provide energy-efficiency upgrades to 1,000 apartments managed by the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville. Simple retrofits such as switching light fixtures to LEDs, caulking air leaks and insulating waterlines aim to cut expenses for those residents while reducing the community’s energy demand, a key part of combating climate change. ESN is seeking volunteers at least 18 years old to assist in the proj14
JUNE 16-22, 2021
RENEWABLE EFFORTS: Local youths work with contractors from MB Haynes Corp. and Aire Serv to install solar panels at the Burton Street Peace Garden last summer. The Solarize Asheville-Buncombe campaign seeks to make similar projects more affordable for low- and moderate-income residents and create pathways to jobs in clean energy. Photo by DeWayne Barton ect. More information is available online at avl.mx/9j4 or by contacting Steffi Rausch at volunteer@ energysaversnetwork.org or 828585-4492, ext. 2.
Buncombe to join Visit NC Farms app Agritourism in Buncombe County could soon get a smart boost through the Visit NC Farms phone app. The
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Buncombe County Soil & Water Conservation District is now accepting applications for local farms, farmers markets and restaurants to be listed on the app, which will launch locally in September. First developed in 2018 by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the app currently features 52 counties, with Western North Carolina entries including McDowell, Polk and Rutherford counties. In April, Buncombe received $8,300 from the
Save the date
• Fletcher-based outdoor manufacturer Diamond Brand Gear hosts an interactive job fair noon-4 p.m. Saturday, June 19. The event features hands-on demonstrations of the firm’s industrial sewing machines, factory tours and free food from 12 Bones Smokehouse, with company representatives available for on-site job interviews. More information and registration: avl.mx/9ih. • Also on June 19, Hendersonvillebased nonprofit Conserving Carolina puts on the sixth annual Upper French Broad Riverfest, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m., at Champion Park in Rosman. Activities include free tubing rides from Headwaters Outfitters, a bird walk with the
economic development, responsible outdoor product innovation and balancing conservation with the outdoor economy. Early-bird registration and more information are available through Wednesday, June 30, at OutdoorEconomy.org.
Community kudos
CAUGHT IN THE ACT: The nature photography of Thomas D. Mangelsen is on display at The N.C. Arboretum through Sunday, Sept. 5. Photo by Thomas D. Mangelsen, courtesy of The N.C. Arboretum Blue Ridge Audubon Society and a meet-and-greet with Rocky, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s hellbender salamander. More information: avl.mx/9il. • The WNC Nature Center announced the return of its afterhours Brews and Bears events on Friday, July 9, and Friday, Aug. 13. Guests can watch resident black bears Uno and Ursa while sipping on Highland Brewing Co. beer and enjoying local food trucks. More information and tickets: avl.mx/9iq.
• The N.C. Arboretum showcases A Life in the Wild, an exhibit of large-format nature photography by Thomas D. Mangelsen, through Sunday, Sept. 5. Admission to the show is included with regular arboretum parking. More information: NCArboretum.org. • The Outdoor Economy Conference returns for an in-person event in Cherokee Tuesday-Friday, Oct. 12-15. The conference features four tracks of speakers and workshops: sustainable outdoor recreation tourism, outdoor-driven
ROLLING ON THE RIVER: The Upper French Broad Riverfest returns to Champion Park in Rosman on Saturday, June 19. Photo courtesy of Conserving Carolina
• UNC Asheville placed second among over 100 colleges and universities in the National Wildlife Federation’s 2021 Campus Race to Zero Waste for the food organics category. According to a UNCA press release, the school collected over 30,000 pounds of compost during the eight-week competition and diverted about 170 pounds of leftover food per week to local underserved populations through its partnership with Ashevillebased nonprofit Food Connection. • Community members in Mars Hill, with support from the WinstonSalem nonprofit Resource Institute, restored substantial portions of the California, Paint Fork and Little Ivy creeks that had been damaged by construction on Interstate 26 and U.S. Route 19. The work realigned the streams to better handle storm runoff and added native plants along the banks to help prevent erosion. • Pine Gate Renewables, an Asheville-based solar energy company, was named one of Inc. magazine’s Best Workplaces for 2021. The business was the only firm in the energy industry to receive the honor. • Cassius Cash, superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, received an Agency Leadership Award from the nonprofit Public Lands Alliance. Cash, the park’s first Black superintendent, was recognized for his Smokies Hikes for Healing initiative, which used the park as a space for racial justice conversations. • Area environmental groups received over $236,000 from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina’s Pigeon River Fund to improve water quality and support wildlife habitat. Awards include $30,000 to RiverLink for engineering work on the Southside Community Stormwater Project, $30,000 to the Haywood Waterways Association for stream improvements on Hominy Creek and nearly $26,000 to MountainTrue to establish a real-time E. coli testing location on the French Broad River. X
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Asheville budget hearing draws a crowd Few seats were left empty in the Banquet Hall at Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville as city staff, media and members of the public filed in for the first in-person regular meeting of Asheville City Council in more than a year. The item at the June 8 meeting that drew the largest number of constituents was a public hearing on City Manager Debra Campbell’s proposed 2021-22 annual operating budget, which includes an effective property tax increase of 3 cents per $100 in valuation. Finance Director Tony McDowell said that the tax hike would raise $5.7 million, which would partially cover $9.9 million in new spending. As in previous years, members of the public both applauded the city for funding long-promised initiatives and voiced concern over how other taxpayer money would be spent. Asheville native Tashia Etheridge suggested that even as the city develops a reparations program to address the damage caused by systemic rac-
BACK IN ACTION: Asheville City Manager Debra Campbell addresses City Council on June 8 during the body’s first in-person regular meeting in over a year. Photo by Brooke Randle ism, the proposed tax hike would disproportionately affect minority homeowners. She called for cutting the Asheville’s police budget as a means of covering the city’s expenses. “As I combed through the budget for the first time and saw that there was to be a property tax hike, and I saw that y’all are still funding the Asheville Police Department $30 million, I was angry,” Etheridge said. “Because once again, I believe that you have lied to my community and reiterated that you do not care for the well-being of Black and brown folk in this city.” The proposed budget originally included $1.2 million, allocated from the city’s general fund balance, to kick-start Asheville’s reparations initiative. But in a separate resolution passed June 8, Council members voted unanimously to remove that funding and instead redirect $2.1 million to the program from the December sale of city-owned property to White Labs, a San Diego-based yeast manufacturer and brewpub. How those funds will be spent has yet to be determined. The city is engaging in a three-phase process to create a joint Asheville-Buncombe County Reparations Commission that will be tasked with making 16
JUNE 16-22, 2021
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short-, medium- and long-term recommendations for the program. Meanwhile, Vicki Meath, executive director of Asheville-based nonprofit Just Economics, said that she supported a proposed $1.1 million to complete the evening service hour extensions outlined in the 2018 Transit Master Plan — originally scheduled for completion in fiscal year 2019-20 — as well as to increase frequency along two South Asheville bus routes. And Scott Mullins, president of the Asheville Fire Fighters Association, praised the city’s planned $6.7 million in additional employee compensation, which would boost starting pay for firefighters up to roughly $44,000 per year. “Your firefighters appreciate, and are encouraged by, the amount of support we’ve seen from you all during all of these budget work sessions over these past few months,” Mullins said. “By enacting this budget, the city of Asheville employees will once again feel valued. There will be an instant boost in morale amongst city employees. And it will keep employees, especially firefighters, in Asheville.” Council members have two weeks to modify the spending plan and tax rate before their scheduled vote
on adopting the budget Tuesday, June 22.
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Several commenters noted that while Asheville has continued to livestream meetings as Council moves to in-person proceedings, members of the public are no longer permitted to comment remotely through phone or videoconferencing. “It’s a pleasure to be in the same room with all of you again. It’s a pleasure to hear you all say ‘Aye’ in unison. … However, after the year that we’ve been through, I think it’s incredibly important that we find the things that actually worked for us. And one of those was technology, like videoconferencing,” said resident Nina Tovish. “This is all a great improvement in accessibility and transparency. I strongly urge you to allow remote participation as we go forward in person.” Mayor Esther Manheimer did not respond to a request for comment from Xpress to explain why remote public comment was no longer allowed or if the policy would be changed.
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Edwards flips on Buncombe occupancy tax reform As local pressure mounts for the N.C. General Assembly to change how Buncombe County’s occupancy tax revenues can be spent, a key state lawmaker has changed his take on the matter. At a June 10 meeting of the Council of Independent Business Owners, an Asheville-based trade group, Republican Sen. Chuck Edwards said he had “come around to the way of thinking of the folks in the county” who want less of the tax to go toward tourism marketing. That position marks an aboutface from the hard line Edwards, who represents Henderson County and the eastern third of Buncombe County, drew in previous remarks to CIBO. “This is not the time to talk about redistribution in any manner,” he had said on Feb. 26. While Edwards did not explain the rationale behind his new stance, it aligns with a proposal endorsed by the Asheville Buncombe Hotel Association, a group representing local hotel owners. Current legislation requires the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority to spend 75% of Buncombe’s occupancy tax revenue on marketing the region, with the remaining 25% allocated toward “tourism-related capital expenditures.” The proposed change would shift those percentages to twothird and one-third, respectively. The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners also appears interested in changing the legislation. The board’s June 1 agenda listed a discussion of the county’s hotel occupancy tax policy, which had been added at the request of Chair Brownie Newman and Commissioners Jasmine Beach-Ferrara and Al Whitesides, all Democrats. The discussion was pulled from the agenda prior to that meeting and has yet to be rescheduled. But even with Edwards’ support, it remains unclear if the changes can pass. He said that “a long-standing debate between long-term members of the Senate and House” had made his colleagues reluctant to consider any occupancy tax legislation; he did not name specific members responsible for the impasse or describe the nature of that debate.
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Edwards also responded to an Xpress question about his role in
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CHANGED MAN: Republican Sen. Chuck Edwards said on June 10 that he supported shifting the allocation of Buncombe County’s occupancy tax, an about-face from the position he had expressed in late February. Photo courtesy of Edwards denying the confirmation of Dionne Delli-Gatti, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s pick to become secretary of the state Department of Environmental Quality. As reported by N.C. Policy Watch, Delli-Gatti is Cooper’s first cabinet-level official nomination to be rejected since Republican lawmakers voted to start holding confirmation hearings in 2017. “Plain and simple, she was not qualified to run the department,” Edwards argued, noting that he personally led the debate on the Senate floor on the June 3 motion to deny Delli-Gatti’s confirmation. He based that claim on what he described as Delli-Gatti’s “very limited knowledge” regarding several controversial pipeline projects for which the Cooper administration had denied permits. “There’s a real war against natural gas,” he added. However, North Carolina’s largest utility companies, which are heavily reliant on natural gas, supported Delli-Gatti’s appointment. Duke Energy released a statement backing her confirmation on June 2, as did Dominion Energy. “We have appreciated her willingness to collaborate on key energy issues and the perspective she brings as the state works together to chart a path forward,” the Duke statement read.
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FEA T U RE S
Q&A with Chief District Court Judge J. Calvin Hill In June 1995, a young lawyer named J. Calvin Hill parked his car in downtown Asheville and walked toward the Buncombe County Courthouse. Hill, who had been working for several years as a defense attorney in eastern North Carolina, had been recruited by the Buncombe public defender’s office. As he strolled to his job interview on the beautiful summer day, his impression of Asheville formed. “I said to myself on my way down here, ‘You know, I just really like this place,’” Hill, 61, recalled. “I had made up my mind: I’m going to move to Asheville, whether I get this job or not.” Fortunately for Hill, he did get the job and moved to Asheville later that summer. In doing so, he became the first African American lawyer in the county’s public defender’s office in about 20 years. In 2007, former Gov. Mike Easley appointed Hill to the 28th District Court bench; Hill has since been elected to the post four times, most recently in 2020. Hill was appointed chief District Court judge in 2010 by former N.C. Chief Justice Sarah Parker and has been reappointed by three subsequent chief justices. Hill is modest about being the subject of an interview — “I’m pretty much the same I’ve been for 25 years,” he said. But he sat down with Mountain Xpress in a conference room at the courthouse to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, the School Justice Partnership, racial justice and how he spends his off-hours. This interview has been condensed for length and lightly edited for clarity. What impact did the COVID-19 pandemic have on the 28th Judicial District? Have cases been delayed? Do we have some backlog? Yes. But in Buncombe County, our backlog really is pretty minimal. From the beginning of COVID until now, our courts have not had to close down a single time for COVID-related issues. And that’s because our stakeholders inside the courts have gone with good advice from county, state and national health care people and taken their advice about masks and distancing. As a result, our courts have operated slower, but they’ve operated consistently. Compared with other counties, Buncombe is in really, really good shape. 18
JUNE 16-22, 2021
ON THE JOB: Chief District Court Judge J. Calvin Hill at the Buncombe County Courthouse. Photo by Jessica Wakeman You were integral in getting Asheville’s School Justice Partnership started in March 2020. The pandemic set different priorities for schools, and the court had other priorities, so can you remind us what the SJP will entail and give a status update? There is lots of data that indicates that the more contact a child has with the court system, the more likely it is for them to have further and extended contact with the court system. This SJP is basically an agreement between court system people, law enforcement people and academics that we would do everything we could to keep kids out of the court system. There are two components to that. The first is graduated response, which says if a child does something
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and it’s not violent — it’s not hurting anybody — maybe get a parent involved initially. Maybe a guidance counselor and a principal next; maybe let the school resource officer have a talk with them next. And if you fail at all three of those stages, you maybe do have to bring this kid into court. There’s also lots of data that says children of color get put into the court system for behavior that other children do not. So let’s monitor this, see if that’s happening in our schools and try to be sure that the same behavior gets the same reaction for all kids. We were literally just getting this thing in place when this pandemic hit. Now that things are back to normal, we’re going to ramp the SJP back up.
Over the past year, Asheville has seen numerous racial justice protests. Do you believe the protests have furthered a redress of inequalities here? I try to stay away from whatever is the day’s politics. Of course, I do have my personal opinions about it, which are not important. My role as the chief District Court judge here is important. And a lot of the racial issues — these racial tensions and these types of things — some of them will make their way into the courts. If you have judges spouting their personal opinions about these racial issues, then it could justify one side or the other believing that they will get shown favoritism when they come into court. I don’t want anybody to say, “Well, he stated a position on this one way or another, and I don’t feel comfortable with him hearing this case.” It’s probably a good idea for judges to keep their personal opinions about that to themselves. And so that’s what I’m going to do. In 2017, the N.C. General Assembly voted to put party affiliations on the ballot for Superior Court and District Court judicial elections. Are you concerned about the role of judges becoming increasingly partisan? I think it was a mistake to designate judges as Republican and Democrat. I think any elected official should serve all constituents, but especially judges. You just can’t let politics come into your decision-making and have people believe that these courts are operating with integrity. We want people to believe that they come in and the evidence that needs to be heard is heard, that everybody gets to say what they need to say. I have found that over the time I have been a judge, with the majority of the people, if you let them say what they want to say and they get all their information out and you make a decision based on the law, most people accept that, even if they’re unhappy with your decision. If they believe they were heard, that makes a difference to them. The General Assembly will redraw election district lines this year based on the results of the 2020 census. What do you hope voters understand about that process and how it relates to the judiciary? We had a situation the last time I was getting ready to run, in 2020. There were some people in the legislature who were looking at ways to gerrymander Buncombe County. I would have been affected specifically, and probably more so than any of my colleagues. I live out in Candler, outside of the city limits. And the way they wanted to draw
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those lines at that time, none of my constituents inside Asheville city limits would have been able to vote for me. Well. I’m African American. Out in Candler, there are not a whole lot of African Americans. And the district I would have been in then would have been highly Republican. Let me just say that it didn’t happen. The legislature decided not to do it, and the whole county got to vote for me. I didn’t have any competition, so it didn’t make any difference. But had someone run against me, it could have made a difference if that gerrymander had gone through. What do you think is the most pressing issue for Buncombe County right now? Lots of stuff concerns me. But the most pressing issue now in Buncombe is all of this racial tension that we have. A few years back, it seemed like race was not at the top of the card. It seemed like people were accepting of other people, regardless of their color. Then over the last several years, we learned that this race issue was not as far below the surface as we thought. Just a little scratch in that surface and some people are comfortable saying what they really felt, and we found out that it still was a real — it still is a real — issue. The policing issue, which is not really separate from the race issue, is a big deal. I think this whole “defund the police” idea is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. Does law enforcement have some issues that need to be dealt with? Yes, they do. But if something is important enough that you need to take money from the police to fund it, then it’s important enough that you ought to fund it anyway. If I’m at my residence and two or three people come out there with mental health issues and guns, don’t send me a psychologist. I want the police to come. I’m not saying there’s not a place to send a psychologist or a psychiatrist, but they should certainly be accompanied by the police in the event something goes wrong, as things go wrong a lot. So that’s my only point: I don’t think money should be taken from law enforcement agencies to fund other stuff. One last question: What is your favorite thing to do in Buncombe County? I’m a gardener. I’m also probably mostly an introvert. My days are filled with problem-solving, putting out fires. And at the end of the day, when I can get home and plant a tree or clip some roses or mow my yard, and it’s away from people, I’m OK with that.
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COMMUNITY CALENDAR JUNE 16-25, 2021 For a full list of community calendar guidelines, please visit mountainx.com/calendar. For questions about free listings, call 828-251-1333, opt. 4. For questions about paid calendar listings, please call 828-251-1333, opt. 1.
In-Person Events = Shaded All other events are virtual
ART Sly Grog Sunset Market Vintage and up-cycled goods, arts and crafts. Live music and Cajun food. TH (6/17), 5pm, Sly Grog Lounge, 271 Haywood St Racial Healing Through Art The YMI will host a reception for the exhibit with artists Shirley Walker Whitesides and Joseph Pearson. Exhibit open through June 22. FR (6/18), 6pm, YMI Cultural Center, 20-44 Eagle St Westside Creative Market Local handmade goods and artwork. SA (6/19), 11am, Haywood Quick Stop, 495 Haywood Rd At First Light: NCGC Lighting InvitationalNew exhibit explores the relationship between glass and light. WE-SA (6/16-19,6/2326) 10am-5pm, North Carolina Glass Center, 140 Roberts St, Suite B
The Asheville Gallery of Art June show Soul of Place: Images Inspired by the Places We Love. Featuring art by Karen Keil Brown and Cathyann Burgess. Gallery open daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Asheville Gallery of Art, 82 Patton Ave
COMMUNITY MUSIC String Solstice with Blue Ridge Orchestra The BRO returns to the stage for the first time in 15 months with a chamber string concert. SU (6/20), 3pm, $25, Wortham Center for the Performing Arts, 18 Biltmore Ave
SPOKEN & WRITTEN WORD Malaprop's Presents: Poets in Conversation Livestreamed conversation with poets Tiana Nobile and Tariq Luthun. WE (6/16), 6pm, Registration required, avl.mx/9in
Friends of the Black Mountain Library Book Sale Thousands of books and audiobooks available for purchase. All proceeds from the sale support the Library. SA (6/19), 10am, Black Mountain Public Library, 105 N. Dougherty St, Black Mountain Braiding Sweetgrass Book Study Join Intern Aundreya and others from CCA in a book study around Braiding Sweetgrass. MO (6/21), 6pm, avl.mx/9jp WNC History Lecture Series #5: Sites of Resistance Two researchers and historians will present on sites of African American history and resistance in Western North Carolina. TH (6/24), 6pm, Registration required, avl.mx/9ir
THEATER & FILM Billy Goat Gruff Outdoor, family friendly show. Tickets only available at the door. FR (6/18, 25), 10am, $15, Hart Theatre, 250 Pigeon St, Waynesville World Premier: The Spirits Still Move Them — Moonshining in the Mountains The Center’s newest documentary film focuses on the iconic moonshiners. TH (6/17), 7pm, $20, Orange Peel, 101 Biltmore Ave
There Is a Field: Film & Discussion A moment of profound enlightenment: when one community discovers a common
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INSPIRED TO HEAL: Local artist Shirley Walker Whitesides will present “Racial Healing Through Art,” an exhibit that explores emotional healing through art of all mediums, on Friday, June 18, 6-8 p.m. at the YMI Cultural Center (39 S.Market St.). “My inspiration, growth, meaning and purpose for my artwork came from my African American culture, family traditions and African heritage,” says Ms. Whitesides in an artist’s statement. “My artistic influences throughout the years have been artwork based on everyday life experiences and the use of bold colors to emphasize my message through art.” The exhibit is available for viewing at the center through June 22. Photo courtesy of the artist
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struggle and humanity with a people half a world away. TU (6/22), 7pm, Registration required, avl.mx/9ij
ANIMALS Mountain Pet Rescue Adoption Event Dog adoption event with Buggy Pops Popsicles and Botanical Bones, local dog treat business. SA (6/19), 1pm, Archetype Brewing, 265 Haywood Rd Pet Food Giveaway Available for pet owners in need of support. Hosted by Blue Ridge Humane Society, the giveaways are located across Henderson County. TU (6/22), 3pm, Interfaith Assistance Ministry, 310 Freeman St, Hendersonville
BENEFITS Juneteenth 5K Run and Fun Walk Registration available on-site beginning at 8am for the 5k race. A virtual bike ride will be held on June 14-19.
SA (6/19), 9am, Registration required, Mark Watson Park, Sylva
CLASSES, MEETINGS & EVENTS Weatherize 1000 Homes with ESN & HACA Hands-on volunteer opportunity to make an impact by reducing energy consumption in the fight against climate change. Groups of 8-16 people welcome who can usually fill a full week's worth of shifts. MO (6/14), Free, Klondyke Place Diamond Brand Gear Job Fair Craftsperson candidates see firsthand what it is like to work with industrial sewing machines and experience the brand’s intentional approach to manufacturing. SA (6/19), 12pm, Diamond Brand Gear Factory, 145 Cane Creek Industrial Park Rd, Fletcher
CCA Regional Gathering Intern Aundreya Shepherd will lead in learning about why and where food justice is needed across Buncombe County. TH (6/17), 6pm, Registration required, avl.mx/9jq Information Sharing and Truth Telling: Future Initiatives Tracey Greene-Washington, Lakesha McDay, and Robert Thomas present. TH (6/17), 6pm, Registration required, avl.mx/9i0 The Collider & Color of Science: Celebration of Science Speaker Series Featuring Renee Fonseca, Human Genetics Ph.D. student at the University of Chicago. TH (6/17), 5pm, Free, Registration required, avl.mx/9bL Gem and Mineral Show 14th Annual Gem, mineral and fossil show. Hosted by MAGMA and Jacquot & Son Mining. Rocks, gems, minerals and more. FR (6/18), Camp Stephens, 263 Clayton Rd, Arden
Hammock Yoga Nidra A guided Yoga Nidra session in ENO hammocks led by Miranda Peterson. FR (6/18), 12pm, Registration required, Carrier Park, 220 Amboy Rd DIY Terrarium Workshop w/Air Plants Workshops include all information and materials needed to create a living terrarium. FR (6/18), 6pm, Registration required, $30, 828 Market on Main, 180 N. Main St, Waynesville Lecture: Invasive Species Steve Pettis, NCSU Extension Agent Agriculture-Consumer and Commercial Horticulture, Henderson County will be the guest educator. SA (6/19), 10am, Registration required, The Preserve and Bird Sanctuary, 118 Village Center Dr, Flat Rock Yoga in the Park Asheville Outdoor yoga class. Suggested donation. SA, SU (6/19, 20), 1:30pm, $10, Registration required, Carrier Park, 220 Amboy Rd
Ben's Friends - Support Group A support group for people in the hospitality industry struggling with addiction. MO (6/21), 10am, AB Tech Culinary Arts & Hospitality School, 30 Tech Dr Food, Land & People Workshop Open to those interested in helping students understand connections between food, land, and people. MO (6/21), 10am, Registration required, Balsam Lake Lodge, State Rd 1756,Tuckasegee Sunrise Asheville Monthly Hub Meeting Connect with other hub members and hear the updates on what we're working on and what's going down in Asheville. MO (6/21), 7pm, Registration required, avl.mx/9ep Autism Support Group Welcomes all autistics including those who are self-diagnosed. Bring up any topic (related to autism) you would like to discuss. TH (6/24), 5pm, Arms Around ASD, 191 Charlotte St Expand Your Circle: Speed Connecting for Women Entrepreneurs Networking event for female entrepreneurs. TH (6/24), 5:30pm, $10, Focal Point Coworking, 125 South Lexington Ave, Suite 101
Full Moon Series: Yoga under the Full “Strawberry” Moon Full moon yoga session taught by Ceiara Cartony. TH (6/24), 8pm, Registration required, Chimney Rock State Park, 431 Main St, Chimney Rock
SA (6/19), 8am, 3300 University Heights
Summer Yoga Flow sponsored by Merrell A special yoga flow led by owner of Yoga in the Park Asheville. FR (6/25), 6:30pm, Registration required, $5, Carrier Park, 220 Amboy Road
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
FOOD & BEER RAD Farmers Market A variety of local farmers, artisans and makers. WE (6/16), 3pm, Pleb Urban Winery, 289 Lyman St Hendersonville Farmers Market Local produce and and artisans. SA (6/19), 8am, Historic Hendersonville Train Depot, 650 Maple St
Flat Rock Farmers Market Local farmers and artisans. TH (6/24), 3pm, Flat Rock Farmers Market, 1790 Greenville Hwy, Hendersonville
City of Asheville Public Hearing Public hearing to consider conditionally rezoning property. TU (6/22), 5pm
OUTDOORS Fridays at the Folk Art Center Join a Parkway ranger to learn about peregrine falcons — one of the largest, most powerful, and fastest falcon species. FR (6/18), 7:30pm, Folk Art Center, MP 382, Blue Ridge Pkwy
Mills River Farmers Market Local produce and artisans. SA (6/19), 8am, Mills River Elementary School, 94 Schoolhouse Rd, Mills River
Upper French Broad Riverfest A free, family-oriented event with games and activities for kids of all ages-including tubing rides sponsored by Headwaters Outfitters, a scavenger hunt, and more. SA (6/19), 10am, French Broad River, 29 N. Market St, #610
North Asheville Tailgate Market Tailgate market featuring local farmers and vendors.
Edible Park Community Work Day Mulching, pruning and clearing invasive plants.
FR (6/25), 2:30pm, Dr. George Washington Carver Edible Park, 30 George Washington Carver Ave
Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre Concert Schedule
Presented by Plugged-In Productions
SPIRITUALITY & WELLNESS Free Prostate Cancer Screening Call 828-698-7317 prior to the screening to get pre-qualified. TH (6/17), 5:30pm, Pardee Urological Associates, 1216 6th Ave West, Hendersonville ”Sparkle Time” Holistic Senior Experience Aerobic, strengthening, balance, flexibility and fun. Call Lois to register at 828-2741779. WE, MO (6/16, 21), 10:30am, $5, Avery’s Crk Community Center, #899 Glen Bridge Rd Steady Collective Syringe Access Outreach Free naloxone, syringes and educational material on harm reduction. TU (6/22), 2pm, Firestorm Books & Coffee, 610 Haywood Rd
Chris Knight | June 17 @ 6PM
Grateful Ball | June 30 @ 5:30PM
Taylor Martin, Wood Wood & Lyndsay Pruett + Christy Lynn Band (Duo)
Jon Stickley Trio
Molly Tuttle | July 7 @ 6PM Gabe Lee
The Travelin’ McCourys
Del McCoury Band | August 5 @ 6PM Still Inside: A Tribute to Tony Rice ft. Travis Book of Infamous Stringdusters & Friends
Upcoming Shows! SAM BUSH BAND | August 11 @ 6PM Tickets and Information
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Recipe for Serenity: Journey of Self Discovery How to reconnect with your inner joy and peace using the "Emotional Freedom" technique. Register: anancy08@gmail.com. TH (6/24), 6pm, Free
MOUNTAINX.COM
JUNE 16-22, 2021
21
WELLNESS
First, do no harm
WNC health care providers change how they prescribe opioids BY JESSICA WAKEMAN jwakeman@mountainx.com Drug abuse changed during the 13 years that Adam McIssac has been working as a drug and alcohol counselor in Asheville. At the beginning, McIssac mostly saw clients who were addicted to methamphetamine. But over time “pills,” including opioids like oxycodone (OxyContin) and hydrocodone (Vicodin), became the main drugs that his clients abused. Opioid abuse is still widespread today, McIssac says, but the drugs have continued to change. “The folks I work with now with opiates, it’s mostly fentanyl that they’re using — illegal fentanyl they bought off the street,” he explains. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can be up to 100 times more powerful than morphine, according to the National Institute of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse. To many people, using this potent drug may seem like an entirely different matter than taking Percocets after a knee surgery. But when McIssac asks his clients how they came to abuse fentanyl, he says, they usually tell a story of turning to the substance after getting addicted to prescription opioids. An opioid epidemic has gripped the U.S. since the 1990s, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although the epidemic is a nationwide problem, it is particularly pronounced in North Carolina, in large part due to the state’s high rates of opioid prescriptions. According to a 2012 audit by health care research company IMS Health, North Carolina doctors had issued 97 opioid prescriptions per 100 residents, a rate in the top quarter of U.S. states. And in 2019, the office of Gov. Roy Cooper noted that 1-of-20 residents in the state are living with an opioid use disorder.
TURNING THE TITANIC: Dr. Blake Fagan, chief education officer at Asheville’s Mountain Area Health Education Center, teaches health care providers how to help patients with non-opioid pain relief. Photo courtesy of MAHEC. For the past decade, a bold plan has been underway to address one of the root causes of OUDs: Educate the medical community to prescribe opioids less frequently and in smaller amounts. The goal, explains Dr. Blake Fagan, is to prevent patients from becoming addicted to legal opioids in the first place. “It’s literally like turning the Titanic,” says Fagan, the chief education officer at Asheville’s Mountain Area Health Education Center. But unlike the Titanic, the response to this emergency is working.
MOUNTAIN MALADIES
Western North Carolina is one of the state’s hardest-hit areas, topping lists for emergency room visits and deaths due to opioid overdos-
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es. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reports that Buncombe County’s rate of unintentional opioid overdose deaths in 2019 was 32.5 per 100,000 people, placing it in the highest fifth of counties statewide. And in April 2021, the latest month for which data is available, neighboring McDowell County had 24 opioid overdose ED visits per 100,000 residents, the state’s highest rate. Fagan, who is also the co-medical director of MAHEC’s office-based opioid treatment services, says he witnessed the overprescription of opioids mounting throughout the 1990s and 2000s. “In Western North Carolina, if your 16-year-old got their wisdom teeth removed, they got 60 Percocet,” he says, noting that his own daughters received such prescriptions when they had oral surgery five years ago. Before the 1990s, Fagan explains, providers primarily prescribed opioids for two reasons: acute severe trauma (such as a bone piercing the skin) or end-of-life care. But pharmaceutical companies then began encouraging doctors to prescribe opioids for chronic pain — and were
at times deceptive about the drugs’ impact. As McIssac puts it, “I don’t think the pharmaceutical companies were transparent about how addictive this medication was going to be.” Doctors had more opportunities to prescribe opioids if chronic pain and other health issues were deemed appropriate reasons, Fagan says, in turn generating billions of dollars in sales for drugmakers. But those uses, he continues, weren’t supported by scientific data. Subsequent research found that the use of opiates for chronic pain does more harm than good. In November 2017, Buncombe became the first county in the state to file a federal lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies for their role in the opioid epidemic. (On June 1, Buncombe’s Board of Commissioners signed a memorandum of agreement regarding a settlement of that litigation, from which county officials expect to receive over $21 million.) But by that point, a generation of medical professionals had already been trained to prescribe opioids — and millions of people were already addicted. Or, as McIssac puts it, “We created this monster and now we have to feed it, and it’s kind of gotten out of hand.”
SHIFTING COURSE
In 2016, the CDC strengthened its guidelines for opioid prescriptions, and the N.C. Medical Board followed suit in 2017. The state General Assembly also passed the Strengthen Opioid Misuse Prevention Act in 2017, which limited the length of initial opioid prescriptions for acute injuries. As of 2021, the STOP Act also mandates use of the Controlled Substance Reporting System, an online database that providers must reference prior to writing a patient a prescription for most opioids. Buncombe County began to address the opioid overprescription issue sooner than that. Around 2014, MAHEC began to offer a class for health care providers who can prescribe controlled substances called Treating Pain Safely. The course shares ways to treat pain with nonopioid alternatives, such as a combination of over-the-counter acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil), as well as how to screen patients for OUD. Consistent throughout these classes — which are now required by the state as part of continuing education for medical professionals — is the message that opioids are not the only option for pain relief. And if patients are to be prescribed opioids, they can comfortably be prescribed less.
ASHEVILLE-AREA
“We actually have to teach [health care providers] how to use the medications correctly, which might be one to three days of opioids in certain surgeries — or none at all,” Fagan says. “But then also we have to take the next step and get them to believe they’ll get less phone calls in the evening.” The classes also encourage health care providers to post flyers or notices in their waiting rooms that explain patients might not receive opioids. “I think that that education over the last several years has really helped,” Fagan said. “I know anecdotally in our clinic now, patients aren’t even asking for it.”
use, or really any kind of drug use whatsoever,” he says. Clients were often in their 50s to 70s and had been prescribed opioid painkillers by a doctor. But by the time their opioid prescriptions ran out, McIssac said, they had become addicted. “Doctors have a lot of power, and I think that’s what got abused during that period with the overprescription of these medications,” says McIssac. He points out that many people are raised to “always trust the doctor” and did not question the pills they were prescribed. The adoption of new opioid prescribing practices is encouraging, Fagan says. “We’re getting education out there, and some providers are changing their practice and realizing patients are getting pain control with Tylenol and ibuprofen,” he explains. “Then hopefully what’s happening is we’re getting less opioids into people’s cabinets; we’re getting less people starting into their opiate use disorder.” X
POWER TO THE PATIENT
Just the knowledge that health care providers are limiting prescriptions of opioids is a boon for people with an OUD, McIssac says. It means they won’t acquire more opioids than needed for pain relief, which can lead to a relapse. “In that moment [where a] doctor says, ‘I’m going to give you 20 Percocets,’ they don’t have to sit there and think, ‘Should I take it or should I not?’” McIssac says. “The decision’s already been made. For folks with addiction, that’s helpful, definitely.” McIssac recalls his experience working at a methadone clinic a decade ago where clients had developed an OUD from legal prescriptions. “I would see folks come in that had never any history of opioid
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JUNE 16-22, 2021
23
ARTS & CULTURE
Under the big top
Come for the building, stay for the food
BY KAY WEST
“One of the things that makes a small city like Asheville so special is our arm’s length connections,” observes Dresbeck. “When we came in, the arcade felt a little bit like a very quiet library. But we saw the restaurant groups and community chefs we had in the building — like Modesto and Baba Nahm — and said, ‘Let’s build on that.’ We went forward with the intent of filling Page Avenue with food and beverage, and as that happened, Restaurant Row became the tag line we all loved.”
kwest@mountainx.com Two of Asheville’s most enduring examples of art deco architecture are downtown commercial buildings that both opened in 1929: The Grove Arcade claims an entire city block, and the nearby S&W Building is settled into a far smaller footprint on Patton Avenue. Both have drawn thousands of visitors over the decades and also suffered significant downturns, closures and not-always-successful resurrections. Today, as Asheville businesses begin to resurface from the crushing effects of COVID-19, both locations are being reimagined as vibrant community gathering spots.
GOOD TRAFFIC
It doesn’t take a business genius or marketing maven to recognize that people tend to put their money where their mouths are: Food and
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ROOFTOP BRUNCH 10am-2pm • Sat. & Sun.
TEAM BUILDING: From left, Doug Ellington, Burns Aldridge, Anne Aldridge and Ryan Israel of Ellington Realty Group are among the team members responsible for the S&W Market micro food hall. Photo courtesy of ERG
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27 Broadway, Downtown AVL 24
JUNE 16-22, 2021
beverage draw customers, and positioning several options near one another is a smart strategy. “I’ve been in commercial real estate for 10 years,” says Emily Dresbeck, leasing agent with Dewey Property Advisors, which purchased Grove Arcade two years ago. “There is a reason a Crate & Barrel is beside a Pottery Barn. Clusters work, they drive traffic, and all traffic is good traffic.” Not everyone wiles away hours in bookstores or shops until they
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drop, but eventually, everybody needs to eat. The seven — soon to be nine — hospitality businesses on the Page Avenue side of the arcade (recently tagged as Restaurant Row) and three others elsewhere on the property are ready to serve. The arcade dozen and the six at the S&W Market, which opens Wednesday, June 16, are not only all locally owned and operated but have ties to one another that create an environment of support and a common goal of mutual success.
LOCAL CONNECTIONS
Brothers Douglas and Kenneth Ellington — nephews of Douglas Ellington, the architect of the S&W Building — are principals of Ellington Realty Group and purchased the piece of family history in 2017 with the intent of modernizing the building’s original purpose as a cafeteria. Past attempts to turn it into a single restaurant had not been successful, so in 2019, the siblings and the ERG team overseeing the development of the property went back to the drawing board with the assistance of chef and restaurateur Meherwan Irani. “They took some time to think about what to do, knowing it had to be a home run,” says Anne Aldridge, director of operations for ERG and manager of the S&W Market. “The food hall concept felt like something Asheville needed and perfect for activating this space.” The initial challenge, notes Irani, was the building’s size and layout: 10,000 square feet over a main-level floor and a mezzanine. “The mezzanine was kind of a nightmare for a restaurant but works as a taproom,” he says. That understanding resulted in the project’s first partner, Highland Brewing Co. Irani then made a list of objectives for finding occupants for the five food stalls on the first floor. Local was No. 1 and a must, he says. He also wanted to work with restaurants open to new concepts. Farm Dogs (Farm Burger), Peace Love Tacos (Mountain Madre), Buxton Chicken Palace (Buxton Hall Barbecue, part of the Chai Pani Restaurant Group), and The Hop Ice Cream fit the bill. Finally, Irani and ERG wanted to offer a small local business with a stellar reputation an affordable opportunity to open its first brick-
and-mortar location. No one checked that box more emphatically than Bun Intended, which also shared an arm’s length connection to Irani. Launched in late 2016 by partners Kyle James, Carter James, Cody Burchett, Gordon Gibbs and chef Erica Glaubitz to serve street food from Thailand’s Isan region, Bun Intended beat 25 competitors to win the 2019 Asheville Food Truck Showdown; Irani was one of the judges. The winning dish was a fried salapao with papaya salad and homemade kefir lime powder. “I think he appreciated that not only was our steamed bun homemade, but so were all the spices and sauces,” Kyle James says. Afterward, he and Carter reached out to Irani for advice and to let him know they were serious about building their business. “We understand there is a lot riding on this, and we feel ready for that challenge,” Kyle says. “It is very important for all of us to succeed in order for the market to succeed.”
WE ARE FAMILY
Building a shared feeling of one for all and all for one is key to the symbiotic success of Grove Arcade and its tenants as well. Though the quarters aren’t as close as in the S&W, the Grove Arcade tenants are all in it together, says Aimee Diaz, vice president of Diaz Restaurant Group and president of the Grove Arcade Public Market Merchants Association. She and her husband, chef Hector Diaz, opened Modesto in the newly renovated and reopened arcade in 2005, and it remains one of the longest-tenured eateries in the building. It was not their first downtown restaurant, having opened Salsa in 1994. “We’re downtown people,” says Aimee. “For decades we’ve been in this community of downtown and helping and supporting one another. Downtown businesses are a family, and this building is an even closer family.” Dresbeck echoes that sentiment. “Sitting in on a merchants associations meeting is so inspirational. There is a lot of respect and mentors in that group, bouncing ideas about what works, what doesn’t and how to help each other.” Aimee Diaz sees all of the pieces and the timing coming together for success. “There is a big difference between potential and performance,” she points out. “For a long time, there was kind of this gray area between the two, and now we are so much closer to meeting the potential with performance.”
Dresbeck says that while it took two years for her to convince Judy Glicken, owner of the 20-year-old Well Bred Bakery & Café, to open a downtown location in the arcade, Ben Krueger and Lisa Vann, partners in new concept Huli Sue’s BBQ and Grill — the sister restaurant of their restaurant, The Fish and The Hog on the Big Island of Hawaii — came to Dewey Property Advisors to request one of the last remaining storefronts on Page. And Wedge Brewery recently announced it will be the bookend tenant filling the 2,000-square-foot north corner of the row.
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WATCH AND LEARN
Years of observing another historic and repurposed commercial entity downtown — the Woolworth building — showed Irani the pull of an iconic structure. “People don’t necessarily go into the Woolworth to see a particular artist or craftsperson,” he notes. “They go in because it’s an intriguing building, and they are curious about what’s inside. Setting up tables, chairs and umbrellas on the sidewalks outside the Grove and the S&W was crucial to letting people know this place will feed you and inviting them inside.” Kyle James agrees. “I think the S&W Market will offer a big-city experience with small-town customer service, and we feel confident this will succeed.” Back at Restaurant Row, Dresbeck is also confident. “E.W. Grove’s original vision for the arcade was that it be a community hub,” she notes. “We believe we are responsible for preserving the history and carrying out his vision for the community today.” The Grove Arcade is at 1 Page Ave., avl.mx/9hk. The S&W Market is at 56 Patton Ave., avl.mx/9hl. X
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JUNE 16-22, 2021
25
ARTS & C U L T U R E
FILM
A spirited history
New documentary dispels myths about moonshining
BY BILL KOPP bill@musoscribe.com There’s an enduring stereotype of moonshiners: They’re lazy, ignorant, backwoods folk bent on breaking the law. That caricature has been reinforced in popular culture in everything from the original design of the Mountain Dew soda can to more recent cable television series like Discovery Channel’s “Moonshiners.” But as Western North Carolina filmmaker and historian David Weintraub emphasizes, “Everything you know about moonshine is wrong.” Weintraub sets about the task of correcting misconceptions — and elucidating history — in his latest documentary, The Spirits Still Move Them, which premieres locally at The Orange Peel on Thursday, June 17, at 7 p.m.
A MATTER OF SURVIVAL
Some 15 years ago, Weintraub launched an oral history initiative called the Mountain Elder Wisdom Project. That endeavor dovetailed with his founding of the nonprofit Center for Cultural Preservation, where Weintraub serves as executive director. Throughout his career, Weintraub has published over a dozen books and produced more than 35 films. The Spirits Still Move Them is the latest installment in his lifelong mission to explore and share cultural legacies.
Additional screenings In addition to its Thursday, June 17, premiere at The Orange Peel, 101 Biltmore Ave., The Spirits Still Move Them will also be shown at the following locations: • North River Farms, 3333 N. Mills River Road, Mills River, Friday, June 18, at 7 p.m., $40 per vehicle. • Southern Appalachian Brewery, 822 Locust St., Hendersonville, Sunday, June 20, 8 p.m., $20 per person. • Livestreamed event, Thursday, June 24, at 7:30 p.m. For additional information and to view the film’s trailer, visit avl.mx/9i5. X
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JUNE 16-22, 2021
LIGHTS, CAMERA, MOONSHINE: Filmmaker David Weintraub talks with Cody Bradford, fifth-generation moonshiner and owner of Howling Moon Distillery in Asheville, for his latest documentary, The Spirits Still Move Them. Photo courtesy of Weintraub “What I learned from these oral histories is that moonshining was probably the toughest work you could do,” he says. “There was science involved, and there was the constant battle with the elements and with law enforcement.” The distilling practice, he continues, “was about survival more than anything else. It was about how to scratch out a living under difficult circumstances.” Avoiding a narration approach, Weintraub’s film instead gives the real-life distillers the opportunity to speak for themselves. The present-day moonshiners in The Spirits Still Move Them — some operating legally with state-of-the-art distilleries, others still preferring a DIY/illicit approach — reveal nuance and character. They’re hardworking people, many of whom could have chosen an easier and more comfortable life path. And that’s a recurring theme in Weintraub’s film. Through archival photographs and oral histories, The Spirits Still Move Them places moonshining in a larger historical context. The practice began as soon as settlers came to the region, many bringing the tradition from Scotland and Ireland. New laws made it illicit after the Civil War but rarely stopped production.
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The film also makes the point that there was effectively a class system in place. By the late 19th century, wealthier people in the region could settle on land ideal for farming. Poorer folk were forced to hillsides and hollers where farming was difficult. So if converting a portion of their corn crop into liquor provided badly needed income, that’s what they would often do. The legality of the practice didn’t figure into their thinking; it was a matter of survival.
NEW FACES
Asked if his extensive research involved partaking of ’shine, Weintraub laughs. “Documentary filmmaking requires a lot of research,” he says. Emphasizing that he’s not a big drinker, Weintraub allows that he was fortunate to try some amazing blackberry moonshine. “It was so smooth and tasty, it didn’t even [seem] like there was alcohol in it,” he says. “Until you stood up.” Nevertheless, he continues, “It certainly helped me better understand the whole process.” As did his conversations with present-day moonshiners who appear in the film. Initially, Weintraub thought
he would have to blur faces and distort voices to protect the moonshiners’ identities. But instead he was often told by participants that they wanted to be on screen, in order to show it to their children and grandchildren. The moonshiners believe they’re carrying on the heritage and traditions of their culture, notes Weintraub. And by appearing in The Spirits Still Move Them, they hope to share a fairer, more accurate portrayal of their pursuits. X
More projects in the works Along with The Spirits Still Move Them, Weintraub is in the process of creating a dozen or more shorter films on YouTube that explore the subject of moonshining in deeper ways. One of those builds on the film’s focus concerning the role that people of color played — and continue to play — in the moonshining tradition. To learn more about these projects, visit avl.mx/9i6. X
DESIGN
Multiplayer
Local board game designers unite
BY JARRETT VAN METER jarrettvanmeter@gmail.com Asheville is known for many things — beer, buskers and bears, to name a few. Board game designers, however, aren’t on the radar. Yet, within the last few years, a group of dedicated gamers has joined forces, creating a local chapter of the Game Designers of North Carolina. Prior to the pandemic, this party of six regularly met at local venues in town. Now with restrictions easing, the group is eager to reconnect in order to workshop new ideas and playtest one another’s latest prototypes. Xpress recently spoke with three of the group’s members to learn more about the local chapter and the individual successes they’ve experienced within the board game industry.
FIFTY-SIX AND COUNTING
Prior to helping launch the Asheville chapter in 2018, Julio Nazario took frequent trips east to the Piedmont area, where the organization’s main chapter meets. The drive gave him time to brainstorm ideas and make adjustments to his latest creation. Ultimately, though, the distance inspired him to create the local chapter. “The community is more than fellow designers,” says Nazario, a civil engineer for the U.S. Forest Service. “It is also about getting to know people of different backgrounds with the same creative mindsets.” In all, Nazario has designed 56 different games, 17 of which he came up with prior to moving to Asheville. Of these designs, two have been published — Ctrl and Holi: Festival of Colors. The former is available at Target and Barnes & Noble; the latter is sold locally at The Wyvern’s Tale, 347 Merrimon Ave. Despite his recent success, Nazario says he isn’t pursuing game design as a career. Publishing deals vary, he explains. Standard advances range from $250-$5,000, and game designers often get a percentage of the product sales. But the majority of deals, he adds, usually amount to a single print run of 2,000 copies. “It’s one of those things where I don’t know if I started doing it full time, whether it would still be fun,” he says. “Never say never; but as of now, that is not the plan.”
other level once I started play-testing it with other people,” says McCormick. With the help of Ude, Nazario, and other chapter members, McCormick was able to create Renaissance Rivals, a deck-building game that he compares to Rio Grande Games’ Dominion. Each player assumes the role of a Renaissance artist and must work to obtain commissions and complete masterpieces. Unlike Redcap Ruckus and Holi, Renaissance Rivals is unpublished, and McCormick says he is not actively seeking a publisher. He enjoys playing it with his students as well as members of Game Designers. “It’s a really good group,” says McCormick of the local chapter. “It’s small. We were making some gains as far as recruiting new people before COVID, and then that kind of took the wind out of our sails.” But with summer meetings set to relaunch, McCormick remains optimistic that the chapter will pick up where it left off. “A lot of people get into board games as a way to get a break from screens,” he says. “I know that’s one of the thing I appreciate about it. It’s physical and it’s tactile, and that makes the experience totally different from playing a game on a computer.” X
GAME ON: Local civil engineer Julio Nazario has created over 50 board games in the past several years. Two of his designs, Ctrl and Holi, are now available for purchase. Photo by Yaseli Olivera Photography
LONG-AWAITED SUCCESS
As a fellow founding member of the local chapter, Kevin Ude joined Nazario on many of those tiresome trips east prior to the group’s Asheville formation. Whereas Nazario’s interest in board games came later in life, Ude says he spent much of his youth playing classics such as Clue, Monopoly and chess. But his favorite game, says Ude, was always the one he hadn’t yet encountered. Much of his childhood, he explains, was spent imagining alternative rules to the available titles he owned. His curiosity and creativity ultimately led Ude to design his own prototypes. His first published game, Redcap Ruckus, came out in February. Ude attributes the game’s success to the feedback he received from fellow members of the Game Designers of North Carolina. “They helped a lot throughout every step,” he says. Most importantly, he notes, the group
encouraged him to remain open to new design ideas, many of which went into the final product. Like Nazario, Ude says he isn’t giving up his day job to pursue design full time. For every Monopoly, the two designers note, there are thousands of smaller titles just hoping to find enough buyers to purchase the initial print run. “Board games are like books,” Nazario explains. “You only know the ones that everybody reads.”
NEW TO THE GAME
Seth McCormick, an art history professor at Western Carolina University, was already flirting with the idea of creating a board game for his students when he learned about the local chapter. “I started working on one on my own and then found out Julio was trying to start this group, so I hooked up with him and that just brought things to a whole MOUNTAINX.COM
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ARTS & CU L T U R E
FOOD ROUNDUP
What’s new in food Queens on the stage, chefs on the move and cider meets cheese
The girls are back in town. On Sunday, June 27, for the first time in well over a year, Alexis, Calcutta, Manhattan and Ida Carolina will take the floor for the return of Asheville Drag Brunch at the Banks Ave Bar at 32 Banks Ave. Or, as creator and producer Gordon Hensley more colorfully describes it, “The queens will shoot out of the gate like bulls in a rodeo!” When Hensley moved to Asheville in 2018, he noted a lack of daytime drag shows. “I saw the drag brunch model work so well in so many places. It’s a great way to make this form of entertainment that normally takes place at midnight or later accessible to people who aren’t out that late,” he explains. “I also have a heart for philanthropy, so I decided to combine the two and see what happened,” Hensley continues. From its March 2019 launch until it began a COVID-19 hiatus in early 2020, Asheville Drag Brunch raised over $6,000 for eight local nonprofits. During the pandemic downtime, Hensley says, the troupe was busy making glittery gowns and stocking up on hairspray and eyelashes, all of which will be needed for the Drag Brunch relaunch. There are 18 shows planned for the 2021 season. “Depending on how long our host, Divine the Bearded Lady, runs her mouth, the shows run about an hour,” Hensley says. “Each queen does two numbers, we have a representative of the nonprofit talk about the work they do, and we do a little audience participation game.” The hearty brunch menu is sparkle-free — eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, gravy and pancakes — members of the audience (must be 21 or older) can rev it up with cash-bar mimosas and bloody marys. Showtimes are at noon and 2 p.m. Tickets start at $25 and must be purchased in advance. Proceeds benefit BeLoved Asheville. For a show schedule and to buy tickets, visit avl.mx/9hm.
In session
When chef Christine McLeod visited Session Café & Bar on the first floor of the Citizen Vinyl building in late fall 2020 with her boyfriend, chef Andrew McLeod of Avenue M, she said to
herself, “I am going to be spending a lot of time in here.” She was thinking as a customer, but after she moved to Asheville to marry McLeod in late February, she took on the role of the café’s chef de cuisine. “[Session chef] Graham House was looking for a new kitchen manager, Andrew threw my name in, I did a couple small stages and was hired,” she explains. When Christine started at Session in March, it was open for lunch and dinner with a menu of sandwiches, sides and salads, with some croissants and pastries from café partner OWL Bakery. “The space is such a great place to work,” Christine observes. “It just made sense to open at 9 instead of 11 and add breakfast.” Currently, breakfast items are primarily grab and go — quiche, chia cups, quinoa bowls and a Black Forest ham and cheese croissant, but there are plans to add breakfast sandwiches soon. All breads and some pastries, like the hummingbird sticky bun, are from OWL, but Christine is making pies, tarts and cakes in house. Session Café is open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday. 14 O. Henry Ave. avl.mx/9hy
Brain food
Since Steve Goff closed his downtown restaurant, AUX Bar, in September, the highly regarded Asheville chef has lost 60 pounds while thinking constantly about food. “My brain has been filling up with dishes that I need to get out of my head,” he says. Jargon diners will benefit from Goff’s brainstorming as he takes on a new role as executive chef of the West Asheville restaurant owned by Shelly and Sean Piper. “I knew I’d be back in a kitchen at some point. I just didn’t think it would be now,” says Goff, who had stepped into the Jargon kitchen earlier this year to help the Pipers on a temporary basis when they experienced staffing issues. “I like the ambiance of the restaurant, and it’s fun to dig into a lot of ingredients. I’ve always put myself in kind of a Southern box, so it’s fun to stretch and do things I never would have done at AUX.” Many of those things are already on the Jargon menu, and Goff expects the rollout will be complete by mid-June.
WILD THING: Divine the Bearded Lady works the crowd at an Asheville Drag Brunch performance in 2020. Photo courtesy of ADB Jargon is at 715 Haywood Road. avl.mx/9hw
It’s grilling season in Western North Carolina, and Hickory Nut Gap Farm has collaborated with Wicked Weed Brewing and Spicewalla to create a trio of dinner sausages to throw on the barbie: a jerk style made with Wicked Weed fresh-pressed wheat ale and jerk seasoning; bratwurst with Wicked Weed Pernicious India Pale Ale; and Appalachian style with Appalachia Session IPA, sassafras and sumac. A portion of sales from the Appalachian sausage will be donated to Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. “This collaboration is a result of friendships between the three companies,” explains Jamie Ager, HNG founder, farmer and CEO. “As Asheville brands, we all recognize the need to leverage each other’s strengths to communicate a common vision around high-quality food grown with passion and care.” Hickory Nut Gap Farm, 57 Sugar Hollow Road, Fairview. To purchase sausage, visit avl.mx/9i9.
Barn raising
On Wednesday, June 23, at 6 p.m. Barn Door Ciderworks, which opened in Fletcher in November, will partner with the WNC Cheese Trail to host its first event, a cider and cheese pairing. A cooperative effort and organization established to promote artisan cheese makers of WNC. Katie Moore, co-owner of Barn Door, is also manager of Blue Ridge Mountain Creamery and executive director of the WNC Cheese Trail, which works to promote the area’s artisan cheesemakers. “I’ve been conducting pairings for a number of years and always loved doing cheese and cider together,” says Moore. “I like to think local, so what you’re pairing most closely represents the region and goes well together.” Tickets are $18 and are available at avl.mx/9i1. Barn Door Ciderworks, 23 Lytle Road, Fletcher
Fired up
— Kay West X
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ARTS & C U L T U R E
ROUNDUP
Around Town
New music series brings the love of vinyl to the South Slope China Langford, a Western North Carolina native and co-founder of the Lonesome Station music series, returns to the Asheville scene after a brief stay in San Francisco, where her concept was first hatched in 2019. Lonesome Station’s mission is to bring a variety of local and traveling artists to a range of atypical locales. “I’ve always had an affinity for visceral musical experiences found in intimate, nontraditional spaces,” Langford explains. For the series’ Friday, June 18, Asheville debut, Langford is teaming up with Ryan Schilling, owner of American Vinyl Co. The record cutting and pressing company, located on Asheville’s South Slope, recently added a stage to its facility, making it an ideal place for the relaunch, Langford notes. “The warehouse by itself is already stunning,” Schilling says. “I can’t imagine how amazing it’s going to be with live music and happy people filling it up.”
MOVIE LISTINGS Bruce Steele’s and Edwin Arnaudin’s latest critiques of new films available to view in local theaters and via popular streaming services include: IN THE HEIGHTS: Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s pre-Hamilton Broadway breakthrough is so energetic and joyful that it’s easy to forgive its wonky screenplay and flat leads. Grade: B. Rated PG-13
The evening’s performers include local Americana artist Alexa Rose and country-Americana band Blue Cactus. Showgoers will have the opportunity to purchase limited-edition records cut right on the spot. “We’ll be experimenting with cutting the performances to vinyl instantly, and we’ll have those records available for purchase at the shows,” Langford explains. Along with the series launch, American Vinyl Co. will serve beer, wine and cider at its new bar, featuring a rotating selection of local libations. American Vinyl Co. is located at 217 Coxe Ave., Suite C. Ticket prices are sliding scale. For more on the series, visit avl.mx/9ic.
Crystal Cauley, a native of Henderson County, is encouraging a monthlong celebration of Juneteenth with two new cultural exhibits, Juneteenth: Celebrating 156 Years of Freedom and The African Dream of an Emancipated Descendant. Both shows are free to attend and feature African American art by North Carolina artist Diamond Cash, as well as African artifacts from Cauley’s personal collection. “I created the Black History Collective of Henderson County to preserve history in a creative way with commissioned art pieces, crafts
LUCA: Pixar’s Italian comingof-age tale about sea monsters who take human form on land delivers the beloved studio’s textbook charm, but its visuals more resemble a Dreamworks or Sony Animation project. Grade: B-minus. Rated PG
Find full reviews and local film info at ashevillemovies.com patreon.com/ashevillemovies 30
JUNE 16-22, 2021
Juneteenth, all month long
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A PRESSING MATTER: Music series Lonesome Station links up with American Vinyl Co. to launch a series of performances that begins Friday, June 18, at 7 p.m. Photo courtesy of Lonesome Station and cultural events,” says Cauley. “I see value in African American history that has been overlooked. I feel that it’s my responsibility and calling to preserve history with dignity.” Juneteenth: Celebrating 156 Years of Freedom is featured at the Henderson County Public Library (main branch), 301 N. Washington St., Hendersonville. Hours: 9 a.m.7 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. The African Dream of an Emancipated Descendant is on display at HOLA Cultural Center, 801 Fourth Ave. E. in Jackson Park, Hendersonville; open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday- Friday. To learn more about HOLA Cultural Center, visit avl.mx/9ie. For more information on the exhibit, email bbnofwnc@gmail.com.
Back with a bang
The Friends of Hominy Creek Greenway is seeking visual artists, performance artists and craftspeople to help the nonprofit organization celebrate its 10th anniversary with a nine-day exhibition in October. “I believe we often fail to recognize that the ‘rescuing’ of urban green spaces is a creative act,” says board member Bryan Tomes. “What better way to reflect on the beautiful work of protecting wildness in our community than with a celebration of creativity.” Fellow board member Holland Youngman agrees. “Art and community green spaces offer all of us a reprieve from the bustle of daily life,” Youngman says. “An opportunity to pause, breathe and get lost in an artist’s creation.” Artists are encouraged to commemorate the dynamic WNC ecosystem through any preferred medium. Find the artist application at avl.mx/9id.
After a 15-month hiatus, the Blue Ridge Orchestra makes a much-anticipated return with a series of upcoming performances. The summer season kicks off with String Solstice on Sunday, June 20, at 3 and 5:30 p.m. in the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts’ Market Street Courtyard. “We started planning the upcoming performances in January,” says Milton Crotts, the orchestra’s music director. “Life was so different then; we were unsure of what the summer would bring, but we had to make plans to go forward and rehearse and perform in person. Thankfully, we did, and now we have an awesome ensemble of 25 Ashevillebased musicians coming together to present two outstanding concerts.” Tickets are $25. For more information and the full schedule, visit avl.mx/9if.
SHAC-ing up
The Sand Hill Artists Collective celebrates one year of communal creation with the new exhibit, SHAC Salutes Our Featured Artists and a relaunch of Art in the Gardens. Both shows run through Sunday, July 4, at Foundation Studios, 27 Foundy St., in the River Arts District. SHAC Salutes Our Featured Artists highlights works from over 25 local artists whose pieces appeared in the gallery from 2020-21; meanwhile, Art in the Gardens showcases the work of eight Biltmore Lake artists who participated in the original exhibition in May. To learn more, visit avl.mx/9ig.
Artists wanted
— Cayla Clark X
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CLUBLAND For questions about free listings, call 828-251-1333, opt. 4.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16 THE GREY EAGLE The Resonant Rogues (Appalachian string band), 5pm SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BREWERY Jazz Night at SAB w/ Jason DeCristofaro, 5:30pm HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Well Crafted Wednesdays w/Matt Smith, 6pm MILLS RIVER BREWING CO. Weekly Open Mic, 6pm ONE WORLD BREWING (WEST) DJ Ephecto (dance), 6pm HOME GROUND COFFEE BAR & DELI Bluegrass Jam, 6pm ISA'S FRENCH BISTRO Jay DiPaola's Live Lounge (solo acoustic), 6pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. French Broad Valley Mountain Music Jam, 6pm TWIN LEAF BREWERY Open Mic Night w/ Tommy Yon, 6pm SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Witty Wednesday Trivia, 6:30pm 12 BONES BREWERY Robert’s Totally Rad Trivia, 7pm SILVERADOS Open Mic w/Riyen Roots, 7pm THE BARRELHOUSE Open Mic/Free Jam, 8pm ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY Beauty Parlor Comedy w/Jasmine Ellis, 8:30pm ALLEY CAT SOCIAL CLUB Karaoke Party, 9pm
THURSDAY, JUNE 17 MAD CO. BREW HOUSE Hope Griffin (solo acoustic), 5pm THE GREY EAGLE - The Whiskey Charmers, 5pm - SUSTO w/Rose Hotel (acoustic), 8pm SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Open Mic, 6pm FLEETWOOD'S Terraoke! Karaoke with Terra, 6pm
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HAZEL ROBINSON AMPHITHEATRE Chris Knight w/Taylor Martin, Woody Wood & Lyndsay Pruett and the Christy Lynn Band (country, folk), 6pm CATAWBA BREWING CO. Trivia at the Biltmore Tasting Room, 6:30pm JACK OF THE WOOD Bluegrass Jam w/ Drew & the Boys (bluegrass), 7pm ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743 CaroMia Tiller & Rahm Mandelkorn (acoustic duo), 7pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Kid Billy - Billy Litz (solo multi-instrumentalist), 7pm RABBIT RABBIT Sunset Rooftop Comedy Show, 7pm SALVAGE STATION Yarn (roots), 7pm 185 KING STREET Jackson Grimm & the One Stringband w/Old Sap (bluegrass), 7pm TWIN LEAF BREWERY Karaoke w/KJ Salina, 8pm THE ONE STOP Guslinging Parrots (Phish tribute), 8pm ALLEYCATAVL Open Mic, 9pm
FRIDAY, JUNE 18 BLUE RIDGE HEMP CO. Beat Maker Series Presents: GruntWerk, 5pm THE GREY EAGLE - Jack Marion And The Pearl Snap Prophets (folk), 5pm - Matt Heckler (Appalachian fiddle), 8pm SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Jeb Rodgers Band (jam, Appalachian, bluegrass), 6pm MAD CO. BREW HOUSE Laura Thurston (solo acoustic), 6pm ONE WORLD BREWING (WEST) Bull the Barker (psychedelic soul rock), 6pm THE GREENHOUSE MOTO CAFE - The Baggage Brothers (acoustic jam), 6:30pm - Greg Payne and the Piedmont Boys (outlaw country), 8pm AMERICAN VINYL CO. Alexa Rose + Blue Cactus (Americana, country), 7pm
SPIN DOCTORS: The now WNC-based band Yarn first formed in Brooklyn in 2006. Since then, they have made their way to the Grammy ballot four times and scored “Download of the Day” from Rolling Stone magazine (among numerous other accolades). The four-man Americana/country rock band will play an outdoor show at the Salvage Station on Thursday, June 17. Doors open at 5 p.m.; show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Photo by Todd Chalfant ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743 Bygone Blues w/ Peggy Ratusz & Aaron Price (blues), 7pm SALVAGE STATION Ghost-Note w/Joslyn & The Sweet Compression (funk), 7pm THE BARRELHOUSE Cat & Crow (Americana), 7pm THE ORANGE PEEL Graham Sharp (folk, blues), 7pm
FLEETWOOD’S GÄK, Bad Vibes and Night Beers (punk), 8pm SLY GROG LOUNGE Indica & Marceline’s Belated Birthday Bash, 9pm ALLEY CAT SOCIAL CLUB Total Request Live Dance Party, 10pm
SATURDAY, JUNE 19
BABE’S PIZZA & TREATS TheTroubadours Three - Hummingtree Band (folk, rock), 6:30pm ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743 Unspoken Tradition (bluegrass), 7pm ODDITORIUM Party Foul Outdoor Drag Show, 7pm THE ORANGE PEEL Andrew Scotchie & The River Rats (funk, rock, blues), 7pm
SALUDA OUTFITTERS The Laurel Mountain Duo (acoustic duo), 7pm
BLUE RIDGE HEMP CO. The Pharaohs (DJ), 3pm
185 KING STREET Jon Stickley Trio w/ Jordan Tice (bluegrass), 7pm
BATTERY PARK BOOK EXCHANGE Dinah’s Daydream (jazz), 5pm
JACK OF THE WOOD Jesse and the Jugs (bluegrass, honky tonk), 7:30pm
SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Roots and Dore (blues), 5pm
ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY Comedy with Drew Morgan & DJ Lewis, 7pm
OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Old Sap Trio (folk, Americana), 8pm
MAD CO. BREW HOUSE Gary Sibley (solo acoustic), 5pm
HOMEPLACE BEER CO. The Soulamanders (soul), 7pm
THE GETAWAY TIKI BAR Getaway Comedy w/ Drew Morgan & DJ Lewis, 8pm
ONE WORLD BREWING (WEST) Machine Funk (tribute to Widespread Panic), 6pm
CATAWBA BREWING CO. Hearts Gone South (country, honky tonk) 7pm
THE POE HOUSE Mr Jimmy (blues), 7pm SALVAGE STATION Cosmic Charlie (Grateful Dead cover band), 7pm
JACK OF THE WOOD Sons of Ralph (bluegrass), 7:30pm FLEETWOOD’S Thieves Like Us w/ Darby Wilcox (synth, indie, post punk), 7:30pm SLY GROG LOUNGE The Shrünken Heads, Cloud City Caskets, Silver Tongue Devils (punk, rock 'n roll), 8pm THE GREENHOUSE MOTO CAFE Double Naught Spies (classic rock), 8pm THE DUGOUT SPORTS BAR & GRILL Ricky Gunter Band (rock), 8pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Sumsun DJ set (electronic), 8pm WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Richard Smith (acoustic guitar), 8pm ALLEYCATAVL Karaoke Dance Party, 9pm SILVERADOS Lyric (singer-songwriter), 9pm
SUNDAY, JUNE 20
MONDAY, JUNE 21
JACK OF THE WOOD Bluegrass brunch (bluegrass), 12pm
ONE WORLD BREWING (WEST) Trivia Night, 6pm
WAGBAR Ryan Furstenberg (solo acoustic), 12pm
OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. House of SYNth, 6:30pm
ONE WORLD BREWING (WEST) Jazz Jam Brunch (modern jazz), 1pm BURNTSHIRT VINEYARDS Daniel Sage (solo acoustic), 2pm ASHEVILLE CLUB Mr Jimmy at the Asheville Club (blues), 3pm
ALLEY CAT SOCIAL CLUB Service Industry Night, 7pm THE JOINT NEXT DOOR Blue Monday with Mr Jimmy (blues), 7:30pm
TUESDAY, JUNE 22
THE GREENHOUSE MOTO CAFE Tools on Stools (acoustic fusion), 3pm
ARCHETYPE BREWING BROADWAY Trivia Night, 5pm
ARCHETYPE BREWING Stephen Evans, (solo acoustic), 3pm
THE GREY EAGLE DJ Otto Maddox and DJ Wall (dance), 5pm
LIVE ON LINDEN Live on Linden: Brushfire Stankgrass (bluegrass fusion), 3pm SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Gin Mill Pickers (Americana, bluegrass), 4pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Human Ladder (rock), 4pm RIVERSIDE RHAPSODY BEER CO. Thinkin' & Drinkin' Trivia w/Allie, 5:30pm SALVAGE STATION Phuncle Sam (Grateful Dead tribute), 6pm THE GREY EAGLE Firecracker Jazz Band (jazz), 6pm 185 KING STREET Open Electric Jam w/Howie Johnson (electric jam), 6:30pm ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743 Molly Stevens w/A Tale of Two (Americana), 7pm
MAD CO. BREW HOUSE Team Trivia, 6pm MILLS RIVER BREWING CO. Weekly Trivia Night, 6pm ARCHETYPE BREWING Trivia Night, 6:30pm 185 KING STREET Travis Book & Friends w/Alex Genova & Joe Cicero of Fireside Collective (bluegrass), 6:30pm FRENCH BROAD BREWERY Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Team Trivia, 7pm SMOKY PARK SUPPER CLUB Magnetic in the (Smoky) Park, 7pm
THE ONE STOP Tuesday Funk Jam (funk), 8pm ALLEYCATAVL Open Mic Night, 9pm
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23 THE GREY EAGLE 5j Barrow (folk, rock), 5pm SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BREWERY Jazz Night w/Jason DeCristofaro (jazz), 5:30pm HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Well Crafted Wednesdays w/Matt Smith, 6pm MILLS RIVER BREWING CO. Weekly Open Mic, 6pm
ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY Beauty Parlour Comedy w/Mandee McKelvey, 8:30pm ALLEY CAT SOCIAL CLUB Karaoke Party, 9pm
THURSDAY, JUNE 24 THE GREY EAGLE Hotel Fiction (indie, pop, rock), 5pm FLEETWOOD’S Terraoke! Karaoke with Terra!, 6pm SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Open Mic, 6pm SALVAGE STATION The Paper Crowns, 6:30pm SILVERADOS Mr Jimmy Power Trio (jazz), 7pm
ONE WORLD BREWING (WEST) DJ Ephecto (dance), 6pm
ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743 Honey Magpie (indie, pop), 7pm
HOME GROUND COFFEE BAR & DELI Bluegrass Jam, 6pm
THE ORANGE PEEL F*ck Dis Pandemic Comedy Tour, 7pm
ISA’S FRENCH BISTRO Jay DiPaola’s Live Lounge, 6pm
RABBIT RABBIT Sunset Rooftop Comedy Show, 7pm
OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. French Broad Valley Mountain Music Jam, 6pm TWIN LEAF BREWERY Open Mic Night w/ Tommy Yon, 6pm SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Witty Wednesday Trivia, 6:30pm 12 BONES BREWERY Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7pm
TWIN LEAF BREWERY Open Mic Night w/ Tommy Yon, 6pm Tuesday Trivia with Eister, 7pm
SILVERADOS Open Mic w/Riyen Roots, 7pm
WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Open Mic Night, 7pm
THE BARRELHOUSE Open Mic/Free Jam, 8pm
185 KING STREET Trivia, 7pm
OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Dave Desmelik (singer-songwriter), 7pm THE MAGNETIC THEATRE Modelface Comedy presents Aaron Naylor & Stephen Taylor, 7pm 185 KING STREET South Carolina Blues Alliance (blues), 7pm
EXPERIENCE WNC’S NEWEST OUTDOOR CONCERT VENUE
JACK OF THE WOOD Bluegrass Jam w/ Drew & the Boys (bluegrass), 7pm
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TWIN LEAF BREWERY Karaoke w/KJ Salina, 8pm THE ONE STOP Guslinging Parrots (Phish tribute), 8pm ALLEYCATAVL Open Mic, 9pm
FRI 7/2
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SAT 7/3
Jim Lauderdale
FRI 7/9
Rich Homie Quan Funk You
SAT 7/3
& Songs From The Road
With special guest Lyric
All Outdoor Concerts are rain or shine • Parking and Shuttle Available Uber/Lyft HIGHLY recommended
Gates 5pm • Show 7pm • ALL AGES SHOW
2898 US 70, Black Mountain NC 28711 Across from Ingles Warehouse MOUNTAINX.COM
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FREEWILL ASTROLOGY ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries playwright Tennessee Williams was honest about the trickery he engaged in as he composed his entertaining masterpieces. “I don’t want realism,” he exclaimed. “I want magic! Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people.” I fully support you, Aries, if you would like to make that your goal in the next three weeks. In my astrological opinion, you and the people in your life have more than a mild need for magic. Your ability to thrive depends on you all getting big doses of magic. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): On my wall is a poster that says “Avoid the Tragic Magic Triad: taking things too personally, taking things too seriously, and taking things too literally.” This advice doesn’t refer to important matters, like my health or my ongoing fight against our culture’s bigotry. I take those issues very personally, seriously and literally. Rather the motto refers to trivial and transitory issues, like the new dent made in my car by a hit-and-run driver in the Whole Foods parking lot, or the bad review of my book on Amazon, or the $18 that a certain Etsy seller cheated me out of, or the joke about the size of my nose that some supposed friend made on Twitter. According to my reading of astrological omens, Taurus, you would benefit right now from meditating on things like these that you take too seriously, personally and literally. Here’s Don Miguel Ruiz: “There is a huge amount of freedom that comes to you when you take nothing personally.” GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “I remember wishing I could be boiled like water and made pure again,” writes poet Jeffrey McDaniel. Judging from the current astrological omens, Gemini, I think you could be made reasonably pure again without having to endure an ordeal like being boiled like water. Do you have ideas about how to proceed? Here are mine: 1. Spend 15 minutes alone. With your eyes closed, sitting in a comfortable chair, forgive everyone who has hurt you. Do the best you can. Perfection isn’t necessary. 2. Spend another 15 minutes alone, same deal. Forgive yourself of everything you’ve done that you think of as errors. Perfection isn’t required. 3. Spend another 15 minutes alone. Imagine what it would be like to unconditionally love yourself exactly as you are. 4. Spend another 15 minutes alone. Remember 10 amazing moments that you enjoyed between ages five and 13. CANCER (June 21-July 22): On June 23, 1940, Wilma Rudolph was born prematurely to a family that already had 19 other children. During her childhood, she suffered from pneumonia, scarlet fever, polio and infant paralysis. The latter two diseases damaged her left leg, and she wore a brace until she was 12 years old. Nevertheless, by the time she was in high school, she had become a very good athlete. Eventually she competed in the Olympics, where she won four medals and earned the title “the fastest woman in history.” I propose that we name her your official role model for the rest of 2021. May she inspire you to overcome and transcend your own personal adversity. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Leo-born P. L. Travers wrote the children’s books about Mary Poppins, a nanny with magical powers. She was thoroughly familiar with folklore, ancient myths and the occult. The character of Mary Poppins, Travers said, was a version of the Mother Goddess. But in her writing process, she drew inspiration mainly from what she thought of as the vast dark nothingness. She wrote, “I’ve become convinced that the great treasure to possess is the unknown.” To generate her tales, she listened to silence and emptiness. I recommend you emulate her approach as you create the next chapter of your life story.
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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo poet Melissa Broder writes, “Romantic obsession is my first language. I live in a world of fantasies, infatuations and love poems.” I wouldn’t normally authorize you to share her perspective, but I will now. The astrological omens suggest you have something important to learn from being more enamored and adoring than usual. If you say yes to the deluge of yearning, you’ll gain access to a type of power that will prove very useful to you in the coming months. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Libran author Oscar Wilde disproved the misconception that Libras are wishy-washy, overly eager to compromise and inclined to overthink everything. His writing had wit and flair, and his life was vivid and daring. He wrote, “There are moments when one has to choose between living one’s own life, fully, entirely, completely—or dragging out some false, shallow, degrading existence that the world in its hypocrisy demands.” I suspect that one of those pivotal moments will soon be coming up for you. Be Wilde-like! SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Philosopher Simone Weil wrote, “Only the light that falls continually from the sky gives a tree the energy to push powerful roots into the earth. The tree is actually rooted in the sky.” As you bolster your foundations in the coming months, as you deepen your roots, I hope you keep Weil’s brilliant observation in mind. Like a tree, the nourishment that will help you grow the stamina and strength and structure you need will come as you turn to the brightest, warmest, highest sources of inspiration. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): To be in groovy alignment with cosmic rhythms, you won’t merely walk, and you certainly won’t trudge. Rather you will saunter and ramble and promenade. You will strut and rove and prowl. Likewise, you won’t just talk, and you certainly won’t mutter or grumble. Instead you will banter, rhapsodize, improvise, beguile and lyricize. Catch my drift? You won’t simply laugh, but will chortle, cackle and guffaw. In other words, Sagittarius, you are authorized to imbue everything you do with style, panache and imagination. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Congratulations on being such a duty-bound, no-nonsense adult. May you continue to ply your dogged persistence and beast-of-burden attitude as long as it gets important tasks done, helps you feel useful and doesn’t make you sick. But if you do get tempted to depart from the sacrificial path anytime soon, please know that you will not offend any gods or demons. Nor will you incur a karmic debt. In fact, I believe you have cosmic clearance to dabble with lightheartedness for a while. You should feel free to experiment with fun and games that appeal to your sense of wonder. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “I can barely conceive of a type of beauty in which there is no melancholy,” wrote poet Charles Baudelaire. What?! That makes no sense. I’m aware of millions of beautiful things that aren’t tinctured with melancholy. California’s Mount Shasta in the late spring twilight, for example. New York City’s Guggenheim Museum, a gorgeous gleaming building designed by genius architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The Marmore waterfalls in central Italy. The gardens of painter Claude Monet in Normandy, France. David Byrne’s gloriously hopeful website, ReasonsToBeCheerful.world. I mention this, Aquarius, because I expect life to bring you a flood of nonmelancholic beauty in the coming days. Take advantage of this grace to replenish your trust in life. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Piscean author César Aira praises the value of escaping one’s memories. He writes, “Forgetting is like a great alchemy free of secrets, transforming everything to the present.” I’d love to see you enjoy alchemy like that in the coming weeks, dear Pisces. It’s a favorable time to lose at least some of the inhibitions and limitations you think you have to accept because of what happened in the past. As Aira says, forgetting “makes our lives into a visible and tangible thing we hold in our hands, with no folds left hidden in the past.”
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 advertise@mountainx.com • mountainx.com/classifieds If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Remember the Russian proverb: “Doveryai, no proveryai,” trust but verify. When answering classified ads, always err on the side of caution. Especially beware of any party asking you to give them financial or identification information. The Mountain Xpress cannot be responsible for ensuring that each advertising client is legitimate. Please report scams to advertise@mountainx.com RENTALS APARTMENTS FOR RENT FRIENDS OF DOROTHY COME AND LIVE IN A REAL PARADISE. A HEAVEN ON EARTH ... 2B/2B Deluxe Chalet in the Mts with vista views from wrap around decks with gardens and privacy. Tastefully furnished and immaculate. West Burnsville with easy access To 26; 20 min to Weaverville and 45 min to Asheville; Gas fireplace and 3 big screen tv’s and much more. No Pets. Ref. $1400+ 1 Person 1 Car. LETS TALK...TEXT 954.496.9000
EMPLOYMENT GENERAL MAINTENANCE/INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNICIAN Costa Farms is a place for accountable employees who want to win by growing their personal lives and careers safely through servant leadership, teamwork, and resilience. We are currently looking for people that share our values and are ready to turn their skills in maintenance into a career. As a member of our maintenance team, you will help us maintain the 30 acres of greenhouses that require constant maintenance on the infrastructure as well as irrigation pumps and piping while developing your leadership and teamwork skills in our personal development program. Only minimal experience is needed. You only need the attitude to learn because at Costa Farms, we don't just grow plants, we grow people. Please come apply at 1468 Bear Creek Rd, Leicester, NC 28748. Phone number 828-683-4222. PART TIME CASHIERS We are looking for part time cashiers in our Asheville and Weaverville thrift stores. Average of 20 hours a week, Saturdays required. dpaez@ wncbridge.org
ADMINISTRATIVE/ OFFICE FRONT DESK RECEPTIONIST WANTED AT RIVER ARTS DENTISTRY Candidate will work primarily at front desk, where candidate will be responsible for greeting patients and patient check-out, as well as all aspects of patient scheduling. Candidate will be able to discuss patient dental treatment in detail, and will be willing to learn billing and insurance to aid Office Manager. We will hire a person with excellent phone skills and attention to detail. A successful candidate will
have continuous interaction with our patients, so you must enjoy working with all types of people. Our office is open 34 hours per week with no weekend or evening hours. Computer skills are required, along with a willingness to learn Dentrix dental management software. Pay starts at 15.00 per hour, full dental benefit included. Please send your resume via email to riverartsdentistry@gmail.com. LOCAL TECH COMPANY HIRING FOR DATA COLLECTIONS TEAM Looking for a full-time office job with a great culture and team? A good fit will be organized, enjoy research and like being part of a goal oriented team. Contact Maggie.Nixon@Verisk.com to apply!
SALES/ MARKETING
SALES PROFESSIONAL Mountain Xpress is looking to add a new member to our sales team. Ideal candidates are personable, organized, motivated, and can present confidently, while working within a structure. Necessary skills include clear and professional communications (via phone, email, and in-person meetings), detailed record-keeping, and working well in a team environment. While no outside sales experience is required, experience dealing with varied and challenging situations is helpful. The position largely entails account development and lead generation (including cold-calling), account management, assisting clients with marketing and branding strategies, and working to meet or exceed sales goals. If you are a high energy, positive, cooperative person looking to join an independent, community-minded organization, please send a resume and cover letter (no walk-ins, please) explaining why you are a good fit for Mountain Xpress to: xpressjob@ mountainx.com
MEDICAL/ HEALTH CARE DIRECT CARE STAFF WANTED Direct Support Professional needed in Waynesville. Full Time benefited position working with individuals with Mental health Disabilities. Contact: Veronica.long@eastersealsucp.com or 828-778-0260.
HUMAN SERVICES FT POSITION: OVERNIGHT AWAKE/3RD SHIFT COMMUNITY MENTOR Onsite overnight awake/3rd shift
position at treatment center for LGBTQ+ folx struggling with substance abuse and co-occurring mental health issues. Exp. Req./$33-36k. Contact info@elevatewellnessandrecovery.com. FT POSITION: SHIFT SUPERVISOR Onsite shift work position at treatment center for LGBTQ+ folx struggling with substance abuse and co-occurring mental health issues. Exp req/40-43k. Contact i nfo@ elevatewellnessandrecovery.com.
TEACHING/ EDUCATION A-B TECH IS HIRING A-B Tech is currently taking applications for a Lab Assistant Instructor, Small Animal Clinical position . For more details and to apply: https://abtcc. peopleadmin.com/postings/5614 A-B TECH IS HIRING A-B Tech is currently taking applications for a Veterinary, Lab Assistant, Laboratory Techniques and Anatomy & Physiology position. For more details and to apply: https:// abtcc.peopleadmin.com/ postings/5613
WILDERNESS THERAPY FT POSITION Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness is hiring fulltime staff. Live and work in the wilderness. Teach outdoor living skills, mindfulness, and traditional therapy tools. For more information: nateo@ blueridgewilderness.com or www.blueridgewilderness.com.
ARTS/MEDIA
NEWS REPORTER WANTED Mountain Xpress is seeking an experienced reporter to join our team. You should have the chops to cover a wide range of issues of community concern including local government, community activism, education, economic issues, public safety and criminal justice, as well as some arts and culture coverage. You must be able to craft stories that convey important, timely information and empower readers to take part in meaningful civic dialogue and effect change at the local level. Qualified applicants will have experience in news-writing, have
social-media skills, write efficiently and enjoy a fast-paced news-gathering environment. Must have knowledge of Asheville and WNC, be community-minded, have a keen sense of fairness with respect for differing points of view and be committed to Xpress’ mission of community-based journalism. Flexible availability required to cover some after-hours meetings and weekend events. This is a full-time position with some benefits. Send cover letter, resume and clips/links to xpressjob@mountainx.com.
XCHANGE MEDICAL SUPPLIES HEAVY DUTY POWER WHEELCHAIR I have a heavy duty power wheelchair for sale. Price is $650.00 and no text emails or calls after 6:00pm. My phone number is 828335-9038. My email is gregorygalphin20@gmail. com.
WANTED BUYING ANTIQUES Vintage, cast iron, pottery, advertising signs, primitives, old collections, estates, old tools, taxidermy, rifles, decoys, wood carvings, signs, clocks, and much more! 828-582-6097 • steadyaim1@yahoo.com. FEMALE PIT BULL COMPANION Male neutered Pit Bull; 10 years old; Needs female companion for play dates. Your dog can play in my fenced backyard or we could go on walks together. I am in my 70's and live in N. Asheville. Please call Joan at 706.323.4670
SERVICES AUDIO/VIDEO CABLE PRICE INCREASE AGAIN? Switch To DIRECTV & Save + get a $100 visa gift card! Get More Channels For Less Money. Restrictions apply. Call Now! 877-693-0625 (AAN CAN) DISH TV SPECIAL $64.99 For 190 Channels + $14.95 High Speed Internet. Free Installation, Smart HD DVR Included, Free Voice Remote. Some restrictions apply. Promo Expires 7/21/21. 1-855-380-2501 (AAN CAN) HUGHESNET SATELLITE INTERNET Finally, no hard data limits! Call Today for speeds up to 25mbps as low as $59.99/mo! $75 gift card, terms apply. 1-844416-7147 (AAN CAN)
THE N EW Y OR K TI M ES C ROSSWORD P UZ Z LE HOME 4G LTE HOME INTERNET NOW AVAILABLE! Get GotW3 with lightning fast speeds plus take your service with you when you travel! As low as $109.99/ mo! 1-888-519-0171 (AAN CAN) NEVER PAY FOR COVERED HOME REPAIRS AGAIN! Complete Care Home Warranty COVERS ALL MAJOR SYSTEMS AND APPLIANCES. 30 DAY RISK FREE. $200.00 OFF + 2 FREE Months! 1-877-6730511 | Hours Mon-Thu, Sun: 9:30 am to 8:00 pm Fri: 9:30 am to 2:00 pm (all times Eastern) (AAN CAN)
HOME IMPROVEMENT HANDY MAN HIRE A HUSBANDHANDYMAN SERVICES Since 1993. Multiple skill sets. Reliable, trustworthy, quality results. Insured. References and estimates available. Stephen Houpis, (828) 280-2254.
ANNOUNCEMENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS ARE YOU BEHIND $10K OR MORE ON YOUR TAXES? Stop wage & bank levies, liens & audits, unfiled tax returns, payroll
issues, & resolve tax debt FAST. Call 855-955-0702 (Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-5pm PST) (AAN CAN) BECOME A PUBLISHED AUTHOR! We edit, print and distribute your work internationally. We do the work… You reap the Rewards! Call for a FREE Author’s Submission Kit: 844-511-1836. (AAN CAN) DONATE YOUR CAR TO KIDS Your donation helps fund the search for missing children. Accepting Trucks, Motorcycles & RV’s , too! Fast Free Pickup – Running or Not - 24 Hour Response - Maximum Tax Donation – Call 877-266-0681 (AAN CAN) STILL PAYING TOO MUCH FOR YOUR MEDICATION? Save up to 90% on RX refill! Order today and receive free shipping on 1st order - prescription required. Call 1-855-750-1612 (AAN CAN)
LEGAL NOTICES NOTICE OF PUBLICATION NOTICE TO Larry John King, heir of Mazie Chisolm King: In the above-styled civil action, it appearing by sworn complaint that your address is unknown and cannot be ascertained upon diligent inquiry, you are hereby given notice that on or before thirty (30) days following June 16, 2021, the last publication of this notice, you are hereby required to answer the Petition to Remove the Administrator and Petition
to Sell Real Estate by filing your answer with the Chancery Court for Maury County, Tennessee and serving a copy on Plaintiff’s attorney, Ellen Zhang, 310 Great Circle Road, Nashville, TN 37243. Otherwise, NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Plaintiff will seek judgement by default against you and request that the Court declare that you have been duly noticed and had no objection. A copy of this notice will be published four (4) times in the weekly newspaper, Mountain Xpress. This is the 18th day of May 2021. Ellen Zhang # 035713, Attorney for Plaintiff, Office of General Counsel, Division of TennCare, 310 Great Circle Road, Nashville, Tennessee 37243, (615) 532-1457.
MIND, BODY, SPIRIT BODYWORK FEELING WHACKED? Let Kaye's revive you back! Incall/Outcall 280-8182
COUNSELING SERVICES ASTRO-COUNSELING 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, LCMHC. (828) 258-3229.
edited by Will Shortz | No. 0512 AUTOMOTIVE AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES CASH FOR CARS! We buy all cars! Junk, high-end, totaled – it doesn’t matter! Get free towing and same day cash! NEWER MODELS too! Call 866-535-9689 (AAN CAN)
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED VOLUNTEERS NEEDED WEATHERIZE 1000 HOMES WITH ESN & HACA Help low-income households save money on their energy bills with simple energy-efficiency upgrades to their home (insulate water heaters, install low-flow water fixtures, etc). volunteer@ energysaversnetwork. org • www.energysaversnetwork.org/1000-homes. WEATHERIZE 1000 HOMES WITH ESN & HACA Help low-income households save money on their energy bills with simple energy-efficiency upgrades to their home (insulate water heaters, install low-flow water fixtures, etc). volunteer@ energysaversnetwork. org • www.energysaversnetwork.org/1000-homes.
ASHEVILLE-AREA
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Contact us today! advertise@mountainx.com
ACROSS 1 Bill-rejecting vote 4 Took a dip? 10 Parent’s cure-all, briefly 13 Number on a foam finger 14 Cost of an online banner or pop-up 15 Piece of cake? 16 Kidney or heart 18 Give the go-ahead 19 Guadalajara gal pal 20 ___ mode 21 Joke 22 Seeds on hamburger buns 25 Lollygag 27 Georgia’s official vegetable 32 Grenoble gal pal 35 “Little” car in a Ronny & the Daytonas hit 36 Stellar start? 37 Florist’s vehicle, typically 38 Suddenly change course 41 Sound of a lightning bolt 42 “Fingers crossed!” 44 Grp. with the hits “Evil Woman” and “Do Ya” 45 Billy or tom 46 Inexpensive table wine 50 Provincial schoolteacher stereotype 51 Short-brimmed hat known as a bunnet in Scotland 55 Org. that launched WaterSense in 2006 57 Co-___ (condo alternatives) 59 Cold hard cash 60 ___ program 61 Specialized lab equipment for drying 64 Fairy tale foe 65 Go by 66 Triage sites, for short
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DOWN 1 Massive pop stars? 2 Genre featured at Tokyo’s Comiket convention 3 Folkloric creatures at snowy altitudes 4 A slice of Italy? 5 Brouhaha 6 “I’m beyond frustrated!” 7 Lovesick 8 And others, in Latin 9 “You’re welcome,” in Spanish 10 ___ torch 11 Top-billed performer 12 Word with war or far 15 Arcade “money” 17 Plant source for tequila 23 Strategic starting piece in a jigsaw puzzle 24 Fill to excess
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26 It’s more than a pocketful of rye 28 “Two Women” actress Sophia 29 Chichén ___ (Mayan ruins city) 30 Like some interviews 31 “That’s a negatory!” 32 Tel ___, Israel 33 Hawaiian for “strong,” which, when doubled, means “very strong” 34 Privy to, as a secret 38 Fashion icon Wang 39 Singing animated snowman 40 Thwart
43 Greasy hairstyling product 45 “I totally agree!” 47 Hordes 48 Skewer 49 Powerful tool for compaction 52 Seafarers’ sanctuaries 53 Well-caffeinated, perhaps 54 Colorful flower with a “face” 55 Therefore 56 The 18th at Pebble Beach, notably 58 Diagnostic image 60 www.fda.___ 62 Emotional highs 63 Grp. that supports American troops
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