Mountain Xpress 08.05.20

OUR 27TH YEAR OF WEEKLY INDEPENDENT NEWS, ARTS & EVENTS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA VOL. 27 NO. 1 AUG. 5 - 11, 2020

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AUG. 5-11, 2020

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AUG. 5-11, 2020

NEWS

NEWS

FEATURES 10 DESTINATION UNKNOWN What does the future hold for the TDA?

12 STATION TO STATION Asheville protesters, medics share their stories

PAGE 20 WATCH YOUR MOUTH While regular dental hygiene visits may be able to wait a bit longer, some urgent dental appointments can’t be put off. What steps are local practices taking to ensure the health of staff and patients during the coronavirus pandemic?

COVER PHOTO Getty Images COVER DESIGN Scott Southwick

FEATURE

4 LETTERS 16 ‘EXODUSTERS’ Roughly 50,000 Black residents leave North Carolina, 1889-90

4 CARTOON: MOLTON 7 CARTOON: BRENT BROWN 8 COMMENTARY 10 NEWS

GREEN

14 BUNCOMBE BEAT 22 SOLAR PROJECTS FUNDED Plus, RAD land disturbance, first in-city deer hunt and more environmental news

16 ASHEVILLE ARCHIVES 18 COMMUNITY CALENDAR 20 WELLNESS 22 GREEN SCENE

FOOD

A-B Tech Asheville Raven & Crone Asheville School of Film Blackbird Frame and Art Bottle Riot / formerly District Wine Bar Carolina Hemp Company City of Asheville Sanitation Conservation Pros, LLC Copper Crown Dogwood Health Trust Flying Squirrel Cleaning Company Franny’s Farm Geraldine’s Bakery Habitat for Humanity Restore Iconic Sandwiches IH Services Ingles Markets Inc. Isis Restaurant and Music Hall Jack of the Wood Lakeview Putt and Play Leicester Artists Lenoir-Rhyne University McDowell Technical Community College Mostly Automotive Inc. Musician’s Workshop Nature’s Vitamins and Herbs New Belgium Brewing Organic Mechanic Pisgah Brewing Co Plant Restaurant Ravenscroft Reserve Initiative Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse Second Gear Strada Italiano Sweeten Creek Antiques The Blackbird Restaurant The Fresh Market The Regeneration Station Town and Mountain Realty Urban Orchard Western Carolina University - Media Placement Services Wicked Weed Brewing

C O NT E NT S

24 ROLLING WITH THE PUNCHES Food trucks find new territory, feed residents weary of home cooking

24 FOOD 26 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 28 SMART BETS 30 CLUBLAND 32 MOVIES

A&E

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

26 HONORING AND OBLITERATING TRADITION Eleanor Underhill returns with new solo album

34 FREEWILL ASTROLOGY 34 CLASSIFIEDS 35 NY TIMES CROSSWORD

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

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OPINION

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

Work together as a community to defeat virus I have been following with interest letters in the Opinion section regarding COVID-19 safety versus the economy and personal liberties. Gardner Hathaway ended his/ her letter paraphrasing Benjamin Franklin’s “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety” [“Depriving People of Livelihoods Is No Solution,” July 15, Xpress]. I was concerned that the man who stated, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately” would imply anything other than cooperation.

So I did a quick fact check to find that Mr. Franklin was not writing of personal liberty at all, but about a tax dispute. The General Assembly of Pennsylvania had to find a source of funding so that towns along the frontier could protect themselves, according to Benjamin Wittes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

From an interview with Mr. Wittes discussing the safety versus liberty

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quotation: “It is a quotation that defends the authority of a legislature to govern in the interests of collective security. … And Franklin was dealing with a genuine security emergency.

There were raids on these frontier towns. And he regarded the ability of a community to defend itself as the essential liberty that it would be contemptible to trade.”

Let’s bring Benjamin Franklin’s thought that “the ability of a community to defend itself as the essential liberty that it would be contemptible to trade” into the discussion on what to do about COVID-19. We started 2020 knowing nothing about this virus, especially about what it was capable doing to the human race. By now we have heard of the precautions needed: masks, social distancing, sanitizing/washing hands, etc.

We have felt the effects of lockdowns, both good and bad.

We also know two more facts: 1. That the CDC states that 4-6 weeks of everyone following the precautions needed would defeat this coronavirus.

2. Economists have stated that as long as this coronavirus is present, the economy is not going to rebound, because not enough people are going to take chances when their health and life, and those of their loved ones, are at stake.

It only makes sense then, for both our health and our economy, that we work together as a community, the community of the entire United States to defend ourselves against this virus. Other countries have already proven that this method works. As my children would say, “It’s a no-brainer.”

It is time for us to all hang together before we end up all hanging separately.

— Jan Wilson Asheville

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Hey, Asheville: Hooray for Asheville for setting a precedent on paying reparations to its Black citizenry that have been long overdue.

Now, I think it is time to set another record: Take down obelisks and statues that honor people who have dishonored this country. Instead, why not erect a statue or memorial to Martin Luther King Jr., who fought long and hard to secure the rights for Black people?

Another hero, Susan B. Anthony, started the long struggle to secure the

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C AR T O O N B Y RA N D Y MO L T O N vote for women. Three generations of women would continue this battle for the right to vote for 72 years. This is a monument worth erecting!

These are two of our country’s greatest.

Come on Asheville, set an example.

Now is the time.

— Charlotte Scuorzo Hendersonville

No one should have to risk health while shopping In response to Mike Rapier’s letter “‘COVID Police’ Don’t Really Care About Community” [July 22, Xpress]: Mike, please read Mindy Brennan’s letter about her father dying of COVID-19 alone because family and friends weren’t allowed to visit him, in an effort to prevent the spread of infection [“My Father Died Alone,” June 22, Xpress]. It might shine a light for you. ...

And in response to Mindy: I, too, am appalled at what I’m finding at Ingles supermarkets, even after they “changed” their policy to “require” facial coverings. I’ve put those words in quotes because their change appears to consist of zero enforcement beyond posting an unobtrusive sign at their stores’ entrances.

On July 25, I counted nine people without masks at the Ingles on Leicester Highway at a slow time when I saw fewer customers than staff. A couple of days earlier, my husband counted 27 people without

masks in under half an hour inside the Ingles in Marshall.

Ingles corporate management apparently doesn’t value the health and safety of its customers and workers enough to actually enforce facial covering in their stores. Shame on them.

At this point, even big-box stores like Walmart, as well as a wide range of small, local businesses, are ensuring that all customers and staff wear masks. There’s no need for anyone to risk their health and safety at retail stores that refuse to implement this very simple and effective measure to hamper contagion.

If any store where you’ve been a regular shopper refuses to enforce facial covering, please take the time to talk to its manager, say that you won’t be coming back, explain why — and if the manager isn’t the owner, write to corporate management.

We’ve got plenty of better alternatives. Let’s give them our business and let stores that don’t require masks know why we won’t be coming back.

— Tricia Shapiro Spring Creek Editor’s note: Xpress contacted Ingles CFO Ron Freeman with a summary of the letter writer’s points relating to the company, and we received the following response: “Thanks for your comments. We want all our customers and associates to wear masks. Masks help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and will help all of us return to conditions before the pandemic. Our stores

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OPI N I ON

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

have masks available to help customers voluntarily comply with mask requirements. There are medical exceptions to mask requirements. We are providing management inquiries, in-store announcements, enhanced awareness signing, plexy shields at point-of-sale contact, one-way aisles and extra hours for cleaning to provide a safe shopping experience.”

Also, CNN reported July 26 that Walmart, despite its new rules requiring masks, will continue to serve customers who aren’t wearing them.

WNC scarred by road rage bullies A few days ago, I was driving along Patton Avenue bridge and onto I-26 North. A driver of a pickup truck started to harass me from behind and then cut me off several times as we headed up 26 North. It seemed like the driver wanted to intentionally cause an accident with me. Luckily, I have a fast reaction time. Eventually, the truck sped off.

I am not sure whether it was the color of my skin, or the fact that I was driving an electric car that was irritating this person. This is not the first time I have been harassed on these mountain roads, and more often than not, the vehicles are trucks or large SUVs. I am not saying that truck drivers are bad drivers. I also drive a truck, but I don’t use it as a weapon on the road — it’s just a utility vehicle to haul stuff. You can love your truck without trying to run people off the road.

Many years ago, I used to walk about half a mile to a bus stop along a busy London road with my younger sister. On several occasions, I was accosted by an older English boy. He would block the path, and I would move to the other side of the sidewalk. He would move to block me again, and I would move back.

Eventually, he would let us go and laugh. However, we got into some fistfights, as young boys do. One day, he stopped me in front of a grocery where my uncle worked. My uncle noticed the scuffle outside and ran to my rescue. Needless to say, the boy never harassed me again.

The event on the road reminded me of that time — but we were boys, not adults driving weapons on the road. If the truck driver drives like that habitually, they could end up killing themselves or worse, someone else. From my decades of driving these roads, it seems to me there are a significant amount of bullies on 6

AUG. 5-11, 2020

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them. I can understand impatience and frustration driving in a large city like Atlanta, with lots of traffic and people trying to get places all the time. However, this area is mostly rural, and traffic here is nothing to get angry about, especially now with the pandemic slowdown. It is sad that such a pristine area is scarred by such an ugly attitude.

— Rudy Beharrysingh Asheville

Not ‘every man for himself’ in COVID-19 era [Regarding “‘COVID Police’ Don’t Really Care About Community” [July 22, Xpress:] In Mr. Rapier’s … rant against unnamed hypocrites and “COVID Police,” he chastises people on one hand for going out to get essentials he doesn’t consider essential and then blames them for not caring about people out of work, though there would be even more unemployed people if they weren’t working selling those (un)essentials.

He especially seems to have a thing about how mulch rates as an essential. (For self-sufficient vegetable gardens, maybe? Just sayin’.) I don’t know what mulch purveyors ever did to him, but I would be looking over my shoulder if I were one.

He is very indignant about people’s indifference to health costs, unaffordable housing and gentrification but ridicules people’s concerns about trying to prevent the spread of the deadliest disease that most of us have ever seen in our lifetimes. Dead people, I once heard, make terrible employees and fighters for better living conditions.

Finally, he reminds us pathetic Dorothys that “it’s every man for himself.” No, Toto, only in the minds of people like you. I hope to God you are in the minority.

— Robert Jordan Asheville

Thanks and farewell to The BLOCK Off Biltmore Wanted to send a big thank-you to Cam MacQueen at The BLOCK Off Biltmore. Seeing that they have closed their doors really saddens me for our community’s loss. I have watched Cam work 16-hourplus days to provide resources for our Latinx/Black/queer/marginalized communities.

I have never, in my life, met someone with the desire and heart to help others as much as her. I have never

C AR T O O N B Y B R E N T B R O W N met a white person as driven to stand against racism, not when it’s cool or popular, but every minute of every day. Her work in our community has moved me greatly over the years.

We are sad to see you go and blessed to have had you for the time we did.

— J. Miller Weaverville

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You might advertise as “Asheville, the perfect location for visitors with plain faces and lack of flair. The perfect mountain retreat for weeble wobble people in khaki shorts.”

Thanks for providing me with the biggest bullshit town I’ve ever encountered. I’ll recommend it to gas station owners across the USA. — J.M. Snyder Asheville

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OPINION

What’s your plan?

Now’s the time to start thinking about how you’ll vote

BY AIDEN CARSON

What’s your plan for voting in November? Or maybe you figure you don’t really need to think about it yet?

But as every day of 2020 flies at us with one plot twist after another, believe me, you do need a plan — and perhaps a backup plan, too.

COVID-19 has hit our country hard in ways that impact every area of life; “normalcy” seems like a distant memory. In a normal election year, you’d expect to go to the polls on Election Day or during early voting, according to your preference and convenience, with little thought for your health or safety. You’d probably consider voting by mail only if you planned to be out of town.

But this is no normal year. The virus and the changes we’ve made to reduce its spread have created a host of obstacles that we’ll have to overcome in order to have a fair and successful election. There are worries about the act of voting itself and still more potential difficulties connected with the process of tallying the ballots.

VOTING BY MAIL

In 2016, 4.4% of North Carolina voters cast absentee ballots, according to an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice. This year, state election officials say we may see a tenfold increase, as voters choose to vote by mail rather than risk exposure to the virus at polling places. Buncombe County Election Services has already received more absentee ballot requests than the total number of such requests four years

that’s going to take a lot more time this year than ever before.

Fortunately, Election Services is adding staff and more space to get the job done, and they’ll begin counting the ballots much earlier than in previous years. Even so, if you decide to vote by mail, you don’t want to wait till the last minute to fill out the request form — you can file a request now for the November election. The ballots themselves will be sent out starting Sept.

4, and your completed ballot must be received by Election Day — or within three days afterward, if it’s postmarked

by Election Day. Don’t waste your vote! Send in your ballot with plenty of time to spare.

You can find step-by-step instructions for voting by mail on the local League of Women Voters chapter’s website: avl.mx/7sx.

“There are worries about both the act of voting and the process of tallying the ballots.”

— Aiden Carson ago, according to Election Services Director Corinne Duncan.

All of those absentee ballots, plus however many more end up being cast this year, will have to be counted. Each one is examined by hand by a bipartisan team at Election Services to ensure that it’s legitimate and that all the rules have been followed. The voter’s signature is compared with the signature on record. It’s a labor-intensive process

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IN-PERSON VOTING

But if you opt to vote in person, how much should you worry about contracting the virus? We recommend the flexibility of early voting, but whether you choose to vote early or on Election Day, county staff will be doing their best to keep you safe. Each site will have a greeter who will welcome you and offer a mask if you need one. Voters will be strongly encouraged to wear masks, but they can’t be forced to do so. Hand sanitizer will be available, and you’ll be given a single-use pen to keep.

People waiting in line will be spaced at 6-foot intervals. Inside, clear plastic barriers will separate you from the poll workers, who’ll be wearing full personal protective equipment, including masks and, in some cases, face shields.

Polling stations will be sanitized each time someone votes.

All of these precautions will require more poll workers at each site, and since they’ve historically tended to be older citizens — precisely the folks who are more vulnerable to the virus — election authorities are seeking additional workers. They are paid, trained positions, so please consider applying if you can. These jobs won’t interfere with unemployment benefits and are a great way to earn some extra money.

There are also opportunities for 17-year-olds through the Student Assistant Program (see box). A lack of poll workers could lead to long lines at

voting sites and perhaps suppress the turnout, so spread the word!

Yet another complication is the fact that this year’s ballot will be much longer than usual, meaning each voter will be taking more time in the booth.

Sample ballots will be available starting Sept. 4, and it’s very important that you take a look at it and make your decisions in advance.

VOTE SMART

Meanwhile, the national League of Women Voters’ Webby Award-winning site is a great resource for all kinds of voting-related matters, including checking your registration. By mid-August, the site will also feature information about the candidates and their responses to the league’s questionnaire.

I hope this helps you make a plan for voting. Check your registration, then decide whether you want to vote by mail, in person, or whether you prefer to apply now for an absentee ballot and defer your final decision till we have a better idea of what we’ll be dealing with in November.

It’s not too soon to figure out who will witness your absentee ballot or how you’ll get to the polling place; this is also a good time to review the sample ballot and learn about the candidates.

But whatever you decide, please don’t let anything stop you from voting!

Aiden Carson, a retired systems engineer, has been a member of the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Asheville-Buncombe County for 35 years; she is currently the local chapter’s co-chair of voter services.X

Getting up to speed • Access your sample ballot at avl.mx/6nq. You can also check your voter registration here and make sure all your information is up to date.

• Beginning in mid-August, visit vote411.org, the national League of Women Voters’ informational website, to learn more about the candidates seeking your vote.

• For details about poll worker opportunities and the local Student Assistant Program, go to avl.mx/7sy. X

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BY BROOKE RANDLE brookerandle10@gmail.com When Explore Asheville’s then-President and CEO Stephanie Brown was offered a new job outside Asheville last fall, she says, the timing felt right.

Since 2012, Brown had led the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority through a period of enormous growth; as the public face of the agency, she’d also dealt with the backlash that accompanied the TDA’s role in transforming a small mountain town into a national tourist destination. And after eight years at the helm, Brown was ready to move on. She anticipated spending her remaining months at the agency shepherding proposed occupancy tax legislation and formalizing the next year’s budget. Then, the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Rather than tie up loose ends, Brown and the TDA board had to address a crisis that left Asheville’s businesses in economic free fall. They rushed to authorize $50,000 of emergency funding in April to One Buncombe, a community COVID-19 response providing aid to individuals and businesses. And in May, the authority funded the Tourism Jobs Recovery Fund, a $5 million grant program to help tourism businesses and nonprofits reopen.

Although the economic and health emergencies continue, Brown completed her contract with the TDA as planned on June 30 and began her new job as the executive vice president of SMAR Insights, an Indianapolis-based marketing and research firm, in July.

With no permanent CEO in place and rising COVID-19 numbers in Buncombe County and surrounding areas, the role of the TDA — and Western North Carolina tourism as a whole — may seem uncertain at best. But Brown maintains that as the region adapts to the pandemic, economic turbulence and a new leader may allow the agency to reimagine its place in the community.

“I’m glad that I was here to help navigate this challenge,” Brown told Xpress before her departure. “I think it’s also really great timing for a new leader to fill my shoes and bring their perspectives.”

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SPLIT OPINIONS

In February, local elected leaders, including Buncombe Commission Chair Brownie Newman and Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, and members of the

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MASK UP: Explore Asheville covered the costs of fabricating and installing signage to notify visitors of the state’s mask mandate. The messaging is displayed on nine kiosks in all: seven in downtown Asheville, one in Biltmore Village and one in Black Mountain. Photo by Virginia Daffron Asheville Buncombe Hotel Association were poised to jointly advocate for reallocation of the county’s occupancy tax funds. State law currently designates 75% of the tax’s revenue for tourism advertising and 25% for tourism-related capital expenditures; the proposed change to the law pushed for a 66% to 33% split along the same lines. The legislation would have also expanded the TDA board to include more community members in addition to hotel owners and other tourism industry insiders.

But the legislation never made it to North Carolina’s General Assembly for a vote. When the April short session rolled around, lawmakers were rushing to pass emergency coronavirus relief packages, which kept them from discussing most other business. The TDA-sponsored Tourism Jobs Recovery Fund, guided through the legislative process by Sen. Chuck Edwards, R-Henderson, bucked that trend and ended up being the only piece of local legislation to come out of the session.

Both the House and the Senate are set to reconvene Wednesday, Sept. 9, but Manheimer told Xpress that the matter was unlikely to be brought before state legislators this year.

“Any session before January is just going to be quick as needed to address very limited, emergency-only legislation,” she explained. “My sense is that they’re not going to pick up other things that aren’t terribly urgent.”

Rep. Brian Turner, D-Buncombe, noted that the July resolution adjourning the GA prohibits lawmakers from considering matters other than COVID-19 relief or political appointments when they return in September. But Sen. Terry Van Duyn, D-Buncombe, suggested that law could be bent with sufficient political will. She pointed to Edwards’ inclusion of the tourism recovery fund in SB 704, an omnibus piece of recovery legislation.

“Unless the majority party is willing to suspend the rules, we can’t do it, but there is precedent for suspending the rules.”

Van Duyn said. “I think the way they did it with the COVID-19 bill is an example.”

Edwards did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Rep. Susan Fisher, D-Buncombe. The remainder of the Buncombe delegation — Turner, Van Duyn and Democratic Rep. John Ager — said they would support the new occupancy tax split if it still had the backing of local officials and industry leaders.

Jim Muth, executive director of the Asheville Buncombe Hotel Association,

which represents around 85 hotels in Buncombe County, says that while hotel owners still agree with the proposed occupancy tax changes, their main focus now is getting through the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. Hotel occupancy has plummeted since March, leading to layoffs and other cost-saving measures as owners scramble to stabilize their businesses.

“Nobody knows what’s going to happen with the coronavirus, with the federal [Paycheck Protection Program] renewal, unemployment. I think right now the hotels are trying to figure out how to bring back as many people as possible and how to train people on these new protocols,” he says. “I’m just trying to let things cool down for people in the hotel community before I bring them together and say, ‘Are we willing to go back again and do this?’”

LOOSE ENDS

The TDA’s Tourism Management and Investment Plan, which aimed to develop guidelines for investing hotel occupancy tax revenues over a 10-year period instead of the current application-based annual process, was also disrupted by COVID-19.

The four-phase project was rolled out in February last year and included a study of the impacts of tourism within the community.

The initiative was originally set to conclude in April 2020 but has been sidelined because of the pandemic. Chris Cavanaugh, a former TDA board chair who’s filling in as the agency’s interim executive director, says that the final phase of the project is currently scheduled for presentation on Wednesday, Aug. 26. However, the organization may hold off on finalizing the results to focus on crisis response.

While these and other priorities, like attracting overnight visitors, remain intact, Cavanaugh says the agency is most focused on responding to the needs of business owners impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The agency has funded the installation of signs downtown to remind visitors of the statewide face covering mandate. “Wear the damn mask,” he declared during a July 29 meeting of the TDA board, as the most important message for tourists to the area.

Explore Asheville has even paused advertising through at least mid-August to wait for a decrease in COVID-19 cases in nearby tourism markets. According to a July 29 presentation by Marla Tambellini, the agency’s vice president of marketing, roughly 80% of potential visitors within a 6.5-hour driving radius of Asheville lived in counties considered hot spots for the disease as of July 27 — up from just 10% on June 8.

CHANGE AT THE TOP: Chris Cavanaugh, left, serves as Explore Asheville’s interim executive during the search for a permanent leader. Twenty-five-year agency veteran Marla Tambellini, center, is vice president of marketing and deputy director of Explore Asheville. With the two locals is Bennjin Lao of travel research and analytics firm STR. Photo courtesy of Explore Asheville

SEARCH PARTY

Meanwhile, hiring for the TDA’s new leader has already begun. Gary Froeba, managing director of the Omni Grove Park Inn and former TDA board chair, heads up a committee that will narrow the field of candidates.

The search committee consists of leaders in tourism-related businesses and current TDA board members, such as Jane Anderson, head of the Asheville Independent Restaurant Association; Florida-based hotelier John McKibbon; and John Ellis, retired executive director of the Diana Wortham Theater. Asheville City Council member Julie Mayfield and Buncombe County Commissioner Joe Belcher, who serve as nonvoting members on the tourism agency’s board, are also participating.

The TDA has contracted with SearchWide Global, a recruitment firm specializing in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries, to lead the process.

The contract will cost $75,000 and will be paid out of the TDA’s fiscal year 2020-21 operating fund, which is alloted from the 75% of occupancy taxes designated for tourism advertising.

A job description from SearchWide touts Explore Asheville’s ability to draw millions of tourists each year, resulting in numerous “best of” nationwide travel and leisure lists and awards. The firm describes the ideal candidate as “approachable,” “authentic” and “community-minded,” with experience in destination marketing and managing multimillion-dollar budgets.

Initial responses indicate that there is “great interest” in the Explore Asheville position, says Froeba. The search firm was expected to review all applicants

through the end of July and present 10 candidates for the committee to review.

The team will then select three applicants for in-person interviews in early fall.

“I would estimate that we should have made a decision on our new president/ CEO by mid- to late October, possibly sooner,” Froeba says.

‘AN ISSUE OF TRUST’

Whoever occupies Brown’s corner office will have to reckon with a history of TDA criticism that began long before the coronavirus disrupted tourism and business in WNC. As earnings from Buncombe County’s hotel tax rose over her tenure from roughly $7.35 million in fiscal year 2012 to nearly $24.92 million in fiscal year 2019, the distribution of that revenue has been the subject of heated debate, with many locals saying that the millions of dollars used for tourism advertising should be redirected to area services.

In one recent public clash, activist and writer Ami Worthen published a Nov. 15 op-ed in the Citizen Times calling for the agency to be abolished. The letter prompted an impassioned response from Himanshu Karvir, the then-vice chair of the TDA board and CEO of Virtelle Hospitality, who lambasted Worthen’s words, as well as local news organizations and social media commenters critical of the agency. Karvir was unanimously appointed as the chair of the tourism board in June.

“It’s going to be a hard job,” says Muth, who is also participating in the CEO search committee. “They’re going to have to have thick skin, because I think that some of the stuff that comes across on social media about our organization,

about our people and about us individually is pretty harsh.

“This should be the prime job in the country for somebody involved in tourism,” he continues. “But there are challenges. There are people who are upset because they feel like they haven’t had the opportunity to adequately participate in the benefits of [tourism].”

Brown did not tie her departure to that community criticism but did acknowledge that she was “excited to have some privacy” after a long stint in the public sector.

During a July 8 meeting, representatives from SearchWide mentioned the ability to “gain credibility and community buy-in from the broader population” as one the top five priorities for the TDA’s new leader. Kit Cramer, president and CEO of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and search committee member, said during the meeting that such a skill would address an “issue of trust” among the TDA and some members of the community.

“I think that trust has been broken on several occasions,” adds Andrew Celwyn, TDA board member and co-owner of Herbiary AVL, a retail shop in downtown.

“It was broken the last time the occupancy tax was changed and the city and county were left out. It was broken when the TDA asked the community for their priorities during the TMIP process and then told the community that their top priority — affordable housing — wouldn’t be addressed.”

He says that for the agency to rebuild trust, it will need a CEO who can facilitate a discussion between the TDA board and the community on how occupancy tax funds are split and how they can be used.

“At the moment, we spend a lower percentage of the occupancy tax in our own community than any other TDA in North Carolina,” he says. “Until that changes, we won’t get any buy-in from the community.” X

Thank You FOR VOTING! BEST OF WNC Results will be published in September

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MOUNTAINX.COM

AUG. 5-11, 2020

11

NEWS

Station to station

Asheville protesters, medics share their stories

BY MOLLY HORAK mhorak@mountainx.com Asheville made national headlines the night of June 2, when Asheville Police Department officers destroyed medical supplies and forcibly handled volunteer medics during international protests for racial justice after the police killing of Black Minneapolis resident George Floyd. In the aftermath, members of Asheville City Council considered commissioning an outside investigation into the tactics used by the APD during the multiday protests, which saw law enforcement use tear gas and rubber bullets against demonstrators. But residents questioned the wisdom of spending over $80,000 on the investigation, which many feared would simply be used to rationalize police actions.

On July 28, Council’s Public Safety Committee, consisting of Brian Haynes, Sheneika Smith and Gwen Wisler, met to reconsider the best approach to understanding what happened.

After deliberation, the Council members proposed the APD continue an internal investigation of the activities during the protest period and discipline any officers found to be in violation of existing policies accordingly. The city’s Legal Department, they agreed, should continue to evaluate the top-level decisions made during the protests. Finally, the Council should request body camera footage from the officers present at the medic station, on Asheville’s Bowen Bridge and those actively tasked with using crowd control tactics — a move that worried Wisler, who said it could jeopardize the safety of APD officers if

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SPEAKING TRUTH: Liyah Foye shares her experiences during a June 5 demonstration at Pack Square Park. Photo by Virginia Daffron their names or the videos become public. All recommendations will go before the full Council at a later date.

The committee also hopes to find a meaningful way for community members to share their stories from the protests. Xpress spoke with several people who were present at the medic station on June 2; they say the reasons for their outrage go far beyond the destruction of water bottles and supplies. Here, they recount their experiences.

LIYAH FOYE Liyah Foye’s hand-lettered sign read, “It’s not just Black lives that matter.

Black thoughts matter, Black actions matter, Black feelings matter. I matter.”

Foye, who identifies as a Black woman, was downtown demonstrating the night of June 2. As the 8 p.m. curfew approached, she saw police officers lining up opposite the peaceful protesters.

People in the crowd began yelling; the police officers were “heavily armed,” she says.

“I am a Black woman in America,” Foye explained in a video she posted to her Facebook page on June 3. “If I hear ‘armed policeman,’ I’m not going to resist it. I’m going to get out.”

She remembered hearing that the medic station would be left alone, so she quickly made her way down Patton Avenue to the alley leading to One World Brewing, where the medics were setting up. Fearful of the police, Foye said she asked the medics if she could stand with them and blend in. The medics

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immediately began shielding Foye, but suddenly, the APD was there, screaming that the medics had to get out.

One officer looked at Foye, and immediately she was filled with terror, she recalls. “It was so hateful the way that they were looking at me,” she said. “In that moment, I felt so much fear.”

The event was traumatic, Foye says — and adds to the microaggressions and hostility she feels in white-dominated spaces within the city.

“For the APD to use physical force and destroy products that were meant to help their citizens is disgusting and dehumanizing,” she says. “It’s not OK what happened to me.”

their knees sliced by shrapnel as they tended to injuries in the crowd. After seeing someone get hit in the head, they threw in a helmet and goggles, just in case. “Ironically, we didn’t need any of that,” they explained.

Initially, Clarke Prentice and their partner, Gillian Maurer, planned to operate solo, but when they saw the triage station, they decided it was safer to work with a group. They arrived with just enough time to don a white cross designating their medic status and agree they would put their hands in the air if police showed up. And then curfew hit.

At first, all was quiet. Then, a van door opened and slammed shut, and Clarke Prentice heard boots hitting the ground.

Police in full riot gear marched down the street, they said, and as the officers passed the alley, the group suddenly pivoted, forming a wedge formation in what Clarke Prentice describes as “the shape of an X-Acto knife.”

“We all realized what was happening in about half a second,” they said. “And then it was chaos.”

In the incident’s aftermath, Clarke Prentice explains, the medics realized they had a national platform to amplify Black and brown voices. But every time a newspaper picked up the story, the response was “woe is the medics,” Clarke Prentice says.

“But that’s just the first part of the conversation,” they explain. “The second part needs to be, why are they only caring about this one situation?

So many times, it’s not an ironclad group of majority white, majority female-presenting medics. So often people make excuses, but police violence is never excusable.”

ANNIE LOU HEATH GREENLEAF CLARKE PRENTICE

Greenleaf Clarke Prentice made a point of bringing kneepads to the June 2 protests. The night before, the protester (who uses they/them pronouns) had

In the midst of the action, one of the APD officers grabbed Annie Lou Heath by the coat and threw her to the ground. Heath, who says she’s maybe 120 pounds on a good day, had never experienced being in a physical confrontation with another person.

“I feel like I got this teeny tiny glimpse of what it’s like to be treated like that, and it was so horrible and scary in the moment,” she explained.

“But I was not arrested or injured,” Heath continued. “I got out of it pretty lucky and very privileged. And that’s not the way the story goes for most people of color.”

GLENNA GRANT As a white person, Glenna Grant didn’t feel her place was on the front lines shouting and yelling. The world has heard enough from white voic-

es, she explains, emphasizing that the story is not about what happened to her and the other medics, but institutionalized racism and the centuries-long battle fought by Black and brown communities to feel safe in their own city.

“What we experienced was that sort of jarring realization that law enforcement may not be as interested in understanding you or treating you with empathy and compassion,” she says.

“That’s something people of color have known for a long time.”

After reflecting on the evening, Grant says she was struck that people in the crowd felt safer going to a group of volunteers for help than they did approaching professionals in uniform.

The realization does not speak highly of the medics, she says, but rather reveals a dysfunctional system causing harm.

“I have no doubt we benefited from our privilege that night,” Grant says.

“I certainly did, because I am not traumatized. And I think the reason I’m not traumatized is because, as a white woman, I don’t have generational trauma around law enforcement.”

some bruises and scrapes, they said. But APD’s intimidation tactics are just one piece of the puzzle.

“A lot of the indignation is of the fact that they stabbed water bottles,” Maurer notes. “But from my perspective, the much more concerning part of this is that the APD was trained and ordered to use this kind of force. In this situation, it’s indicative of a much broader issue that puts a lot of people of color in the city at a much greater risk.” X GILLIAN MAURER One of the most concerning aspects of the incident for Gillian Maurer, who was halfway down the alley when APD arrived, was that the officers appeared to be trained and given orders to meet peaceful medics with force.

“Had there been a higher volume of people of color or people who were not there to provide medical attention or people that were in some way trying to defend their ability to stay there, things would likely have escalated much, much faster than they did in this situation,” said Maurer, who uses they/them pronouns.

To Maurer’s knowledge, the only injuries to the medical volunteers were

MOUNTAINX.COM

AUG. 5-11, 2020

13

BUNCOMBE BEAT

Council adopts 2020-21 operating budget with three months of funding The Asheville Police Department is still fully funded — at least through September. On July 30, Asheville City Council voted 5-2 to adopt an annual operating budget that will allocate three months of funding for the operation of essential services, including the APD. The discussion will pick back up on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at which point Council will vote on a budget amendment to distribute the remaining $105 million of the general fund balance to city departments and staff.

The vote comes after months of sustained demands from activists to cut the APD budget by half and reinvest the money in Asheville’s Black community. At Council’s meeting of July 28, callers spoke for more than two hours about the harms caused by police; 85 emailed comments and 40 voicemail messages were also submitted in support of the move.

This year’s budget process has already been highly unusual, explained Tony McDowell, the city’s assistant finance director, during a presentation to Council on July 28.

First, the working budget had to be revamped in response to COVID-19. A bare-bones continuation budget was presented by City Manager Debra Campbell on May 26.

Large racial justice protests the following week led to community calls for defunding the police. Council subsequently adopted a one-month interim budget on June 23, with the caveat that additional public input be considered before making full allocations for fiscal year 2020-21. And after the contentious July 28 public

TO THE STREETS: After Asheville City Council voted to adopt an operating budget allocating three months of funding for essential services — including $7.9 million for the Asheville Police Department — activists marched along Interstate 240 to protest the decision. Photo by Matt Henson hearing, Council emerged with three potential budget plans, each with different approaches to the APD. But for activists, many of Council’s comments stood opposed to their desire for immediate change. “For anyone out there who thinks we’re going to see a budget presented to us that has us defunding the police by 50% on Sept. 22, that is not realistic,” Mayor Esther Manheimer said.

After the vote, community members protesting the decision marched through downtown Asheville and onto Interstate 240, shutting down traffic for much of the evening.

Council members Gwen Wisler and Vijay Kapoor voted against the measure, stating it would be irresponsible for the city to withhold full departmental funding from staff given their many other responsibilities.

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They cited Council’s recent decision to begin the process of reparations for Black residents, the possible removal of the Vance Monument and the continuing financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wisler and Kapoor also argued it would be irresponsible to mislead the community about plans for the police budget. Although Campbell has begun a community engagement process to gather public input and Council members have expressed a desire to “divest and invest” from the APD, the two said the city could not come up with a feasible strategy to cut police spending in such a short time.

“You are not going to have a plan to cut APD’s budget by 50% by September,” said Kapoor, who spoke for several minutes at what was likely his last Council meeting before his resignation. “We all know that. You’ll likely need to lay off over 100 officers to do that. Passing a three-month budget with no realistic chance of making this happen is going to once again set expectations sky-high and fall short.”

Some people think if Council continues to ask for miracles from city staff, “magic will happen,” Wisler said. But she emphasized that staff had no “magic wands” to wave for a solution.

“Do you know why the community doesn’t trust us?” she asked.

“Because this Council won’t fess up to the fact that we actually believe the staff. We know that defunding APD by 50% immediately is not doable. But rather than tell the truth now, we’ll tie the staff in knots, require them from now until September or possibly longer to worry if this nickel should be spent in July or October.”

No Council members directly countered the assertion that immediate 50% defunding was impossible, nor did they commit to cutting the department by that amount in the near future.

Despite these criticisms, Manheimer said, Council remains committed to reimagining the Police Department and budget in a meaningful and impactful way. Her near-term goal, she added, is to determine how Asheville can structure departmental responsibilities and community partnerships in a way that promotes racial equity and economic inclusion.

— Molly Horak X

Residents criticize changes to Council procedures Community members claim Asheville City Council tried to limit opportunities for public comment during its meeting of July 28 by introducing several new policies to regulate callers. “It seems like a direct attempt to stifle dissent,” said Ben Spencer, a South Asheville resident who called in several times during the meeting.

Commenters were required to sign up in advance to speak live during the virtual meeting, a policy that was not in place for Council’s several most recent remote meetings. According to city spokesperson Polly McDaniel, both state law and the city’s rules of procedure grant Council the discretion to set or adjust rules to “facilitate the efficient conduct of public meetings.”

“By requesting speakers to sign up in advance, city staff are able to inform speakers of their place in line, as well as communicate specifically with the person intending to speak next,” McDaniel said in an email exchange with Xpress. “These changes were intended to address issues which occurred during the recent meetings.”

McDaniel did not indicate which specific issues those changes were meant to correct.

In past meetings, all speakers had been given three minutes to comment on each public hearing item and during open public comment. However, at the beginning of the July 28 meeting, Mayor Esther Manheimer deviated from this precedent, announcing that each caller signed up to comment on the 2020-21 fiscal year budget would instead have two minutes to speak.

Prior to making the change, McDaniel said, Manheimer consulted City Attorney Brad Branham “on multiple occasions,” and all members of Council were informed. No Council member objected to the change, McDaniel added, and no formal vote to approve the moves was required.

“The time limit was reduced by 60 seconds per speaker in order to allow sufficient time for all speakers

to have access to the Council and still allow reasonable time to complete the informal comment period as well,” McDaniel said. “As the meeting lasted over six hours, the need for this modification is evident.”

Callers were outraged by the decision, which they argued was not made clear when they signed up for live comment. Emailed instructions sent to registered callers around noon July 28 did mention the reduced time limit, but the change was not listed on the meeting agenda, the city’s public engagement hub or the speaker signup form. Council’s rules of decorum, which were explicitly listed on the meeting materials, state that “each speaker is allotted three minutes to speak on an agenda item.”

Several callers also claimed they were excluded from comment despite following the city’s procedures, adding to frustrations that their voices weren’t heard. While 20 names were included on the caller list to speak on the consent agenda, only two spoke live. During the budget hearing, which had 82 registered callers, only 44 spoke.

According to city staff, said McDaniel, some participants did not call within the timeframe an item was being discussed, did not press “3” to be added to the speaker queue, never called into the meeting or declined to speak when contacted by staff.

After the close of the budget hearing, member Brian Haynes informed Council that he had received a text message from an individual who was still waiting in the speaker queue to comment. Manheimer responded that staff had checked the queue and found no one left waiting.

Manheimer made several announcements reminding anyone who got inadvertently disconnected to call back, McDaniel said. She acknowledged that, about four hours into the meeting, the bridge between the virtual meeting and the city’s

COMMUNITY CONCERNS: Kids from the Nature Explorers program at Earthaven Ecovillage protest outside City Hall on July 28, ahead of Asheville City Council’s public hearing on the budget. Changes to public comment rules for the meeting left callers feeling frustrated and unheard. Photo by Laura Hackett engagement hub disconnected. Staff quickly restored the line, she added, and callers who were inadvertently disconnected were brought back into the queue.

Resident Alexandra Lines said she was one of the people skipped. After signing up online and carefully following all of the instructions provided by city staff, she entered the speaker queue when the budget hearing began. When the name before hers on the speaker list was called, she assumed she was next.

Instead, Lines said, she stayed on the line for another hour and was still waiting in the queue when the budget public hearing ended. She contacted Deputy City Clerk Sarah Terwilliger

about the issue; Terwilliger responded that Lines was signed up to speak during informal comment, not the budget hearing — despite her name being on the list for both.

The process is unacceptable, Lines said, and has left many people feeling unheard.

“It’s not OK that you’re ignoring people, straight-up ignoring the people that you’re supposed to represent,” she told Council when she was finally able to get through at the end of the meeting. “It’s so clear why there’s no trust. You don’t deserve trust.”

— Molly Horak X

Thank You FOR VOTING!

BEST OF WNC Results will be published in September MOUNTAINX.COM

AUG. 5-11, 2020

15

F E AT UR E S

ASHEVILLE ARCHIVES

by Thomas Calder | tcalder@mountainx.com

‘Exodusters’ Roughly 50,000 Black residents leave North Carolina, 1889-90

But the optics of a mass exodus in tandem with allegations of voting restrictions put white North Carolinians on the defensive. On Sept.

19, 1889, The Daily Citizen notified readers that it had received a copy of the Daily Sun, a paper based in San Diego. The Daily Citizen wrote: “Our attention is called to an editorial in which the negro question is discussed, and are glad to see that [former Asheville resident] Gen. Johnstone Jones, in conversation with the editor of the Sun has been enabled to disabuse him of some erroneous impressions, and to put him on track of taking just and common sense views of the Southern situation and the negro question.”

HEADED OUT: With concerns over a new voting law, an agricultural recession and ongoing exploitation through the state’s crop lien system, roughly 50,000 African Americans left North Carolina between 1889 and 1890. Photo courtesy of the North Carolina Collection, Pack Memorial Public Library, Asheville Students of history are likely familiar with the Great Migration, in which nearly 6 million Black Americans left the South between 1916 and 1970, seeking better treatment and opportunities in the Northeast, Midwest and West. But smaller migrations occurred throughout the latter half of the 19th century as well, following the end of the Civil War. According to the 2006 Encyclopedia of North Carolina, published by the University of North Carolina Press, roughly 50,000 African Americans left the Tar Heel State between 1889 and 1890. A major impetus was the passage of the Payne Election Law, “which threatened to restrict the voting rights of Blacks,” by providing “broad powers to registrars,” the encyclopedia notes. Additional factors included an agricultural recession and ongoing exploitation through the state’s crop lien system.

Amid this mass exodus, N.C. Gov. Daniel G. Fowle vacationed at the Mountain Park Hotel in Hot Springs. While there, the state leader offered an exclusive interview with The Daily Citizen. The Asheville paper 16

AUG. 5-11, 2020

MOUNTAINX.COM

proudly featured the conversation on the front page of its Sept. 5, 1889, edition. The headline read: “The Negro Question.”

The article’s opening paragraph noted: “In conversation with your correspondent the Governor gave utterance to his opinion concerning the negro exodus from North Carolina, and said that his opinion was the opinion of the people of the State generally. It is, to the effect, that the quicker North Carolina gets rid of the negro population, just so soon will she be able to induce hardy white men from the North, West and other sections of the union to come in here and settle. But so long as 500,000 to 600,000 negroes live here, outside white men will not come in to any great extent.”

Fowle went on to promote stereotypes depicting African Americans as lazy and unintelligent. For this reason, the governor explained, “I shall give the negro every facility in my power to travel to other States. … North Carolina is the white man’s country.”

Among Jones’ talking points, the general declared, “The negro to-day, in the length and breadth of the South, is a happy and contented animal. The loss of political power does not trouble him, although he would use it if he could get it back.”

The following year, on Feb. 27, 1890, The Asheville Democrat reported that a majority of the region’s African Americans who fled North Carolina relocated to Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas. The paper warned: “The exodusters seem to be well pleased with their new homes, and send back encouraging reports. It is to be expected, therefore, that there will be a much larger movement in the early future, unless some legislation is attempted to stop the operations of labor agents[.]”

Despite Gov. Fowle’s earlier claims that the state stood to benefit from the mass exodus, efforts were soon put in place to curtail the numbers. According to the Encyclopedia of North Carolina, in 1891, the General Assembly passed legislation known as the “Farmers’ Alliance,” which “required an emigrant agent — defined as one who hired blacks for employment outside of the state — to purchase an annual license in each county in which the agent operated for $1,000 [roughly $28,300 in today’s dollar].”

Two years later, the N.C. Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional. But by then the number of African Americans leaving the state had already begun to subside.

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

MOUNTAINX.COM

AUG. 5-11, 2020

17

COMMUNITY CALENDAR AUG. 5-14, 2020

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

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

Online Event= q

Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance: Reader Meet Writer Sarah M. Broom presents The Yellow House.

TH (8/13), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7st q Malaprop’s Young Adult Author Discussion Erica Waters and Ash Van Otterloo in conversation.

FR (8/14), 6pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7td q

ART LITERARY Malaprop’s Author Discussion Karen Salyer McElmurray presents Wanting Radiance.

WE (8/5), 6pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7rq q Weaverville Library: Afternoon Book Club The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri.

TH (8/6), 3pm, Registration required, avl.mx/7u7 q

East Asheville Library: Book Club The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah.

TH (8/6), 6:30pm, Registration required, avl.mx/7u8 q Firestorm Visionary Readers Group Meet and greet, overview and intention setting.

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Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance: Reader Meet Writer Odie Lindsay, author of Some Go Home.

TH (8/6), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7rr q Wild Goose Reading Group Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi, part 2.

MO (8/10), 6pm, Registration required, avl.mx/7ev q

Malaprop’s Mystery Book Club The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves.

MO (8/10), 7pm, Registration required, avl.mx/7jn q Discussion Bound Book Club Everything She Touched: The Life of Ruth Asawa by Marilyn Chase.

TU (8/11), 12pm, Registration required, avl.mx/7t1 q Malaprop’s Author Event Juan Cardenas, author of Ornamental, in conversation with translator Lizzie Davis.

TU (8/11), 6pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7tb q Weaverville Library: Evening Book Club The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver.

TU (8/11), 6pm, Registration required, avl.mx/7ua q Haywood Library: Book Chat Open conversation with staff.

WE (8/12), 6pm, avl.mx/7kq q Malaprop’s Author Discussion Lauren Kirby presents Saving History.

WE (8/12), 6pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7tc q Stay Home & Write(rs) Group Community writing session hosted by Firestorm.

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Slow Art Friday: Art with an Attitude Discussion led by touring docent Michelle Weitzman Dorf.

FR (8/7), 12pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7rc q Local Cloth Handwork circle.

FR (8/7), 4pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7qf q First Friday Art Walks Open galleries.

FR (8/7), 5pm, Biltmore Ave River Arts District Second Saturday Open studios and galleries.

SA (8/8), 11am, Depot St Haywood Library: Art w/ Joan Two-point perspective drawing class.

TU (8/11), 10am, Free, avl.mx/7tr q Slow Art Friday: Artist Couples Discussion led by master docent Doris Potash at Asheville Art Museum.

FR (8/14), 12pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7cr q

MUSIC & DANCE A CAPELLA SINGING (PD.) WANNA SING? ashevillebarbershop.com Posey Piano Hour Jazz and swing performance.

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Looking Glass Dancers Society Launch Live performance and interactive games.

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THEATER Asheville Community Theatre: Costume Drama Fashion Show Garment design competition and fundraiser. Learn more on Page 30.

SA (8/8), 7:30pm, $25, avl.mx/7ui q

CIVICS & ACTIVISM Buncombe County Budget Workshop 3 Program by Just Economics of WNC. TH (8/6), 5:30pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7un q Cultural Crash Course: Black Lives Matter Lecture by Dr. Cyndy Caravelis.

TH (8/6), 6pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7qn q Asheville Women in Black Monthly peace vigil.

FR (8/7), 5pm, Vance Monument, 1 Pack Square Faith Communities Organizing for Sanctuary Monthly coordination meeting for immigration justice.

TU (8/11), 4pm, Land of the Sky UCC, 123 Kenilworth Rd Asheville Downtown Commission Meeting FR (8/14), 8:30am, avl.mx/7ue q

BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY Are You Ready to be an Entrepreneur?

SCC Small Business Center seminar by Tonya Snider.

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SCORE: Is a Profit or Non-Profit Business Right for You? Start-up workshop.

WE (8/5), 12:45pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7sv q How to Maximize Your PPP Loan Forgiveness Talk by Mike Ames of Mountain BizWorks.

WE (8/5), 3pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7md q Express Employment: National Interview Day Job matching. Appointments: expresspros.com.

TH (8/6), 8am, Express Employment, 1979 Hendersonville Rd Jumpstart Your Success: Workshops for Entrepreneurial-Minded Women Hosted by Aisha Adams and Lisa Zahiya.

SU (8/9), 2:30pm, $25, avl.mx/7tf q Deep Dive Workshop: Adjusting Your Business in the Time of COVID-19 Mountain BizWorks panel with local entrepreneurs.

WE (8/12), 10am, $25, avl.mx/7su q Incredible Towns Business Network General meeting.

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CLASSES, MEETINGS & EVENTS OLLI: Stories from Heaven & Earth Storytelling and comedy with Chuck Fink and Randy Robins.

TH (8/6), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7rl q Hendersonville Woman's Club General meeting.

TU (8/11), 10am, 310 Freeman St, Hendersonville Say His Name: Healing from Collective Trauma in the Age of George Floyd Session 1 of 5: Embracing Empathy w/ Dr. Dana Patterson.

TU (8/11), 6pm, $25, avl.mx/7qo q Spanish Conversation Group For adults.

TH (8/13), 5pm, Free, avl.mx/7c6 q

ECO & OUTDOOR Plastics: Problems, Solutions & How to Recycle Webinar by WNC Sierra Club.

TH (8/6), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7rm q Pop-up 5k in the Park WE (8/12), 6pm, $10, Fletcher Park, 300 Old Cane Creek Rd, Fletcher Hendersonville Green Drinks: How Climate Change is Devastating

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MOUNTAINX.COM

Our Communities Talk by fire behavior analyst Tony Dunn.

TH (8/13), 6pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7t6 q Trout Unlimited: Pisgah Chapter General meeting.

TH (8/13), 7pm, Ecusta Brewing, 49 Pisgah Hwy, Pisgah Forest

WEEKLY MARKETS

Thursday of the month!

Registration required: info@herbmountainfarm. com. $10-20 sliding scale. Weaverville at Herb Mountain Farm off Maney Branch. Email for directions. 4:00-5:30pm.

Canton Giving Garden Workshop Learn to grow a three sisters garden. Questions: 828-648-2924.

MO (8/10), 10am, Free, Haywood County Public Library, 11 Pennsylvania Ave, Canton

Tuesdays • West Asheville Tailgate Market. 3:30-6:30pm, 718 Haywood Rd Wednesdays • Asheville City Market South. 12-3pm, Biltmore Park Town Square • Weaverville Farmers Market. 2:30-6pm,17 Merrimon Ave, Weaverville • RAD Farmers Market.

3-6pm, Pleb Urban Winery, 289 Lyman St • Locally Grown on the Green. 3-6pm, 35 Hwy 64, Cashiers • Jackson County Farmers Market. 3:30-6:30pm, Innovation Station, 40 Depot St, Dillsboro Thursdays • ASAP Farmers Market at A-B Tech. 9am-12pm, 340 Victoria Rd • Flat Rock Farmers Market. 3-6pm, 1790 Greenville Hwy, Hendersonville • Enka-Candler Tailgate Market. 3:30-6:30pm, 70 Pisgah Hwy, Candler Fridays • Marion Tailgate Market. 10am-3pm, 67 W Henderson St, Marion Saturdays • North Asheville Tailgate Market. 8am-12pm, UNC Asheville, Lot C • Hendersonville Farmers Market. 8am-1pm, 650 Maple St, Hendersonville • Yancey County Farmers Market.

8:30am-12:30pm,10 S Main St, Burnsville • ASAP Farmers Market at A-B Tech. 9am-12pm, 340 Victoria Rd • Black Mountain Tailgate Market. 9am-12pm, 130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain • Haywood’s Historic Farmers Market.

9am-12pm, 250 Pigeon St, Waynesville

FARM & GARDEN Plant Walk (PD.) Mary Plantwalker will be leading a plant walk.

Come connect with our plant allies every 1st

FESTIVALS Crafts After Dark: Night Market Handmade items from local crafters.

WE (8/5), 5pm, Fleetwood’s, 496 Haywood Rd 93rd Annual Mountain Dance & Folk Festival Three-night showcase of traditional mountain music, dance and storytelling.

TH (8/6), 7:30pm, avl.mx/7ut

FOOD & BEER MANNA Express Free grocery items for neighbors in need.

FR (8/7), 12pm, Beacon of Hope, 120 Cavalry Dr, Marshall Haywood Library: Grown-up Grilled Cheese Cooking class for tweens and teens.

FR (8/14), 10am, Free, avl.mx/7tt q

WELLNESS Tranzmission: Trans-feminine Support Meeting Questions: info@ tranzmission.org.

TH (8/6), 6:30pm, avl.mx/7ra q Seniors’ Group Exercise Class Total body workout.

SA (8/8), 11am, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7u9 q Tranzmission: Trans, Nonbinary & Queer Recovery Support Questions: info@ tranzmission.org.

SA (8/8), 2pm, avl.mx/7kc q Alzheimer’s Association Workshop Understanding Alzheimer’s and dementia.

MO (8/10), 10am, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7tv q Exercise as Part of Cancer Therapy Webinar by Throwing Bones for a Cure.

MO (8/10), 2:30pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7qm q Steady Collective Syringe Access Outreach Free educational material, naloxone, syringes and supplies.

TU (8/11), 2pm, Firestorm Books, 610 Haywood Rd

Living Beyond Breast Cancer: Session 2 Pardee UNC survivorship series for young women.

TU (8/11), 6pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/64a q Intro to Medicare: Understanding the Puzzle How to avoid penalties and save money.

WE (8/12), 2pm, Registration required, Free, coabc.org q Tranzmission: Transformers Support Meeting For people who are non-binary, trans and/or exploring their gender identity.

TH (8/13), 6:30pm, avl.mx/7tj q

SPIRITUALITY Getting Ahead in a JustGettin'-By World Community problem solving workshop.

TH (8/13), 5:45pm, Foster Church, 375 Hendersonville Rd

KIDS Haywood Library: Invisible Ink Experiments Learn to make invisible ink using lemon juice and household heat sources.

WE (8/5), 9am, Free, avl.mx/7to q Miss Malaprop’s Storytime Ages 3-9.

WE (8/5), 10am, Free, avl.mx/73b q Haywood Library: Decorate Your Cloth Mask Supplies available for pickup at library. Questions: 828-356-2511.

FR (8/7), 10am, Free, avl.mx/7tp q Madison Library: American Folk Music for Kids Performance and fun facts with Stephen Griffith.

MO (8/10), 2pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7u5 q Haywood Library: Kitchen Chemistry Experiments with common household materials.

WE (8/12), 9am, Free, avl.mx/7ts q Drive-thru End of Summer Blast Free ice cream treats and take-and-make craft kits.

TH (8/13), 1-4pm, Historic Johnson Farm, 3346 Haywood Rd, Hendersonville

VOLUNTEERING American Red Cross Blood Drive Free COVID-19 antibody tests for donors. Register: redcrossblood.org/give.

FR (8/7), 11am, Asheville Outlets, 800 Brevard Rd

OF F I C I A L L Y OP E N

Iconic Kitchen and Drinks Join us for a foodie road trip across the US taking place right here on the South Slope. Experience iconic foods and iconic cocktails prepared just the way they were intended. Outdoor seating. Dog friendly. Dine-in and take-out. Go to our website to see the full menu.

Bring in this ad and get 10% off your meal.

Offer good for food only. Not valid for alcohol. One coupon per table.

63 Southside Ave, Asheville 828-505-3157 iconickitchenanddrinks.com

Conservation Pros Inc.

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

We have been helping your neighbors save energy since 2007 and we can help you too! We provide Energy Audits, Insulation and Air Sealing, Sealed Crawl Spaces and Dehumidification, Door and Window Sealing, Mold Remediation, and more!

We are practicing social distancing and using protective measures to keep our customers and crew safe.

Locally Owned and Operated, Living Wage Certified.

sweetencreek115@aol.com sweetencreekantiques.net 828-277-6100 | 828-450-5402 115 Sweeten Creek Rd, Asheville

www.conservationpros.com 828-713-3346

Lakeview Putt and Play Lakeview Putt and Play is a beautifully landscaped, 18-hole, ADA-accessible miniature golf course located on the shores of Lake Julian. Come reconnect with your family or bring your special someone for date night. We have unique and challenging holes that will entertain the whole family.

Carolina Hemp Company

Open Sun.-Thurs.10 am-9 pm, Fri. and Sat. 10am-10pm

Carolina Hemp Company is open! Established in 2014, we are proud to be Asheville’s Hometown Hemp company. We are dedicated to providing our community with the highest quality hemp goods available. Our education-centered general store offers everything from our Carolina Hemp Naturals Whole Spectrum Hemp Extract, Carolina Hemp Flower, edibles, topicals, concentrates, hemp based foods, clothing, and accessories. Our passion is driven by the opportunity to bring real growth, sustainable products and viable, proven alternatives to pharmaceuticals into our communities. From local events to community outreach, we’ve made it our mission to support and drive sustainability, regenerative practices, and furthering hemp and cannabinoid research for all.

Drop by our 290 Haywood Rd retail location to learn more from our Hemp Advocates about how Whole-Spectrum Hemp Extract can help you! Open in-store and curbside pickup. Store Hours: Mon-Fri 11am-6pm. Saturday: 12pm-6pm

lakeviewputtandplay@gmail.com lakeviewputtandplay.com | 828.676.1746 2245 Hendersonville Rd., Arden

carolinahempcompany.com 290 Haywood RD, Asheville 828-438-4367

We are still offering virtual reality, but it is by reservation only. Battle zombies, sword fight, enjoy music and rhythm games or even have a drunken bar fight in one of our 4 state of the art, totally immersive VR booths. Bring a friend or two and enjoy awesome graphics as you play interactively. After you play, don’t miss out on a delicious ice cream made fresh locally from The Hop. Not a fan of ice cream? No problem-we are now serving slushies too!

MOUNTAINX.COM

AUG. 5-11, 2020

19

WELLNESS

Safety in the dentist’s chair Local practices implement strict guidelines

BY LESLIE BOYD

of the mouth and nose from droplet spatter, they don’t provide complete protection against inhaling airborne infectious agents.

No data is yet available concerning the risk of COVID-19 transmission during dental work. To date in the United States, clusters of health care personnel who have tested positive for the disease have been found in hospitals and long-term care facilities, but none have been reported in dental settings or among dental health care practitioners.

For the first two months of the pandemic, dental offices in North Carolina were closed to all but emergency patients, but they reopened for elective procedures on May 8 under Gov. Roy Cooper’s phase 2 guidelines.

“We’re taking precautions in line with both the CDC and the American Dental Association, whichever is more stringent,” notes Raper.

leslie.boyd@gmail.com Mark West was munching on almonds during Memorial Day weekend when he broke a tooth. His initial response was trepidation about having to visit a dentist in the midst of a pandemic.

“I was really kind of frightened about going,” he recalls. “There was this sense that you don’t know who’s carrying the illness.”

But the tooth was bothering him and he knew he had to do something about it, so he finally called West Asheville Family Dentistry and made an appointment.

“They asked a lot of screening questions,” he says. “And when I went, everyone wore a mask, and the dentist and assistant wore face shields. …

They got me in and out as quickly as

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20

AUG. 5-11, 2020

ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION: At the Mountain Area Health Education Center, all dental practice staff are equipped with personal protective equipment and follow strict guidelines to prevent transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19. Photo courtesy of MAHEC possible, and they also took care of a couple other issues.”

Ann Beggs tells a similar story. She and her husband, Jim, both of whom are older and therefore at higher risk for complications from COVID-19, had dental appointments on the same day.

“I was concerned,” Ann Beggs says.

“I think that’s normal.”

But Dr. Thomas Morton’s office put her fears to rest, she says. Employees asked screening questions, gave both patients the option of waiting in their car till they could be escorted straight into the treatment rooms, and everyone was masked.

“I felt safe,” says Beggs. “They did a good job.”

FACE TO FACE

While many physicians are now seeing patients online or in their cars, dentists must see people in person, in the office, in order to do their work, MOUNTAINX.COM

explains Natalie Raper, administrative director of MAHEC Dental Health.

The practice’s two clinics (in Asheville and Columbus) are both fully open, though they’re seeing fewer patients — 40-45 a day, versus 45-60 before the pandemic — because they’re cleaning even more thoroughly after each patient and changing into fresh gowns, gloves, masks and face shields.

“Everyone went through a daylong training on procedures before we opened back up,” says Raper.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk is higher for dental workers than for those in most other professions because of the way the virus is transmitted. Dental practitioners use rotary instruments such as drills, ultrasonic scalers and air-water syringes, which create a spray that can contain particle droplets of water, saliva, blood, microorganisms and other debris. And while masks protect the mucous membranes

STRICT PRECAUTIONS

Dr. Mark Knollman says he finds the current procedures both familiar and reassuring.

“I was in dental school when the AIDS epidemic began,” he explains.

“That was scarier, in my mind.” Early on in that epidemic, researchers hadn’t identified the retrovirus that causes the disease, and no one was certain how it was transmitted.

“We know more about this one, so we can be more assured that what we’re doing will work,” says Knollman. “You know, the term ‘universal precautions’

DR. MARK KNOLLMAN

IH Services, Inc is Hiring Housekeepers for a long-term care facility in Fletcher

“I’ve had patients tell me they feel safer here than in a grocery store.”

— Asheville dentist Mark Knollman didn’t even exist before 1985. It means we treat all patients as though they might have something contagious.

Now it’s how we practice.”

At the office of Dr. Timothy Gillespie, patients and staff follow a strict protocol, says Hailey Wallace, hygiene coordinator for the practice: • Before patients come in, they’re asked to review and sign two forms electronically through the website: a COVID-19 consent form and an updated health history. This helps determine whether they should keep their current appointment or reschedule. It also ensures that the office has the most recent medical information on patients.

• Patients call the office from the parking lot to let staff know they’ve arrived and what vehicle they’re in; the waiting room is not an option during the pandemic. Patients also are asked to come alone unless they can’t drive themselves.

• Once the patient has called in, a dental hygienist or dental assistant greets them at their car and takes their temperature.

• Patients must wear a mask or other face covering when inside the building. They use hand sanitizer or are asked to wash their hands on entering the treatment room. The practice has one-way traffic in its hallways to improve social distancing.

• Once in the treatment room, patients are asked to swish with an antimicrobial mouth rinse for 30 seconds while the clinical staff members wash their hands. The clinician then closes the door, after which patients can remove their masks.

• Every surface is cleaned before and after each patient — both in clinical rooms and at the front desk.

• A ppointments are staggered to reduce the number of people entering and leaving the office at the same time.

• C linical staff members all wear proper personal protective equipment, and administrative staff wear face masks.

• All staff members have their temperatures taken and are prescreened before starting the workday.

REASSURING PATIENTS

Knollman says his office follows similar protocols. “I’ve had patients tell me they feel safer here than in

a grocery store,” he says. His worst fear, notes Knollman, is that if he got sick, his office would have to close and his staff would be out of work.

“North Carolina has some of the strictest rules governing dental practices,” he points out. “If the dentist is not in the building, no one can do any procedures on any patients, and that includes cleaning and X-rays.”

Meanwhile, the N.C. Board of Dental Examiners has left it up to individual practices, which are considered essential businesses, to decide whether to open and, if so, whether they should accept nonemergency patients.

“We’re encouraging patients who have dental issues to come in, because waiting can make things much worse,” says Knollman. “A $300 problem can become a $3,000 problem pretty quickly. We want you to feel comfortable coming in, and we assure patients that we’re following the safety protocols.” X

Duties: Cleans residents' rooms which includes bathrooms, dusting & sweeping, vacuuming and emptying trash as well as sanitizing the common areas Hours: 1st Shift: 7am - 3pm, 2nd Shift: 2pm - 10pm w/ Every other weekend a requirement Pay: $9.50+ per hour All candidates must pass a drug screen and background check Call Betty at 828-545-1575

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What the CDC recommends Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines include the following recommendations: • Screen for dental emergencies using teledentistry or other remote methods.

• Take extraoral radiographs whenever possible, since intraoral techniques may induce coughing.

• Reduce aerosol production as much as possible through the use of hand instruments, dental dams and high-speed suction.

• Wear N95 masks, with a positive seal around the nose and mouth, in combination with a full-face shield. ... If N95 masks are not available, surgical masks approved by the Food and Drug Administration must be worn for each patient and not reused, in conjunction with proper use of goggles, gowns and gloves.

• The only dental team members within 6 feet of the treatment aerosol area should be the operator and the assistant. X

24

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555 Merrimon Avenue MOUNTAINX.COM

AUG. 5-11, 2020

21

GREEN ROUNDUP

by Daniel Walton | dwalton@mountainx.com

Buncombe, Asheville fund community solar projects Renewable energy in Buncombe County got a governmental jumpstart in July thanks to a pair of unanimous votes by the county Board of Commissioners and Asheville City Council. Together, the two governments approved over $11 million in funding to install roughly 7 megawatts of solar power at public facilities and area schools.

The projects, which will be managed

by Asheville-based MB Haynes Corp., are anticipated to save the governments and schools roughly $650,000 in electricity costs in the first year and more than $27 million over the installations’ 30-year operational life. Perhaps more importantly, said Buncombe Commission Chair Brownie Newman, they mark a turning point in local efforts to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Newman recognized the leadership of area students, who last year collected hundreds of signatures supporting the projects, in pushing Buncombe toward renewable energy. “They know that climate change is the biggest threat facing their future and that we have to take it on,” he said.

Despite these recent investments, both the county and city remain far from their goals to power all operations with renewable energy by 2030. An analysis published in July 2019 by The Cadmus Group found that, between planned and “feasible and prioritized” local actions, the governments would only meet a fifth of their needs with renewable power by that deadline.

“We’re still not moving fast enough,” Newman acknowledged prior to the county’s vote. “Time is not on our side.”

RAD developer violates city land disturbance rules Following resident complaints about rocks, dirt and other debris falling onto Amboy Road, the city of Asheville issued a notice of violation to developer Jay Fiano for conducting unauthorized work on a site in the River Arts District. According to the July 24 notice from the city’s Development Services Department, the developer had an expired site grading permit for 34 Upstream Way and would be required 22

AUG. 5-11, 2020

Good to know

• In response to reports that North Carolina residents have received unsolicited packages of seeds from China and other foreign sources, Buncombe County, the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and state Attorney General Josh Stein all urged people not to plant the contents. Anyone receiving such a shipment should contact the NCDA&CS Plant Industry Division at 800-206-9333 or newpest@ncagr.gov.

• The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission reminds residents to avoid disturbing young squirrels that have fallen out of trees. “Humans simply are not as good at taking care of young animals as their mothers,” said Falyn Owens, the commission’s extension biologist. More info at avl.mx/7th.

FUEL STATION: Solar panels mounted atop parking garages, like those shown here, are set to be installed at Asheville and Buncombe County facilities as part of their more than $11 million investment in renewable energy. Photo courtesy of the city of Asheville to submit plans for permanent repairs to a “newly formed landslide area.”

Asheville spokesperson Polly McDaniel said city inspectors found that some work at the property, including an additional parking area and extra retaining walls, “was not specifically covered under the existing permits.” However, she noted that the city had not concluded Fiano caused the landslide, and the developer was allowed to make emergency repairs to stabilize the site under the guidance of his engineers.

In an email to Xpress, Fiano said he had been unaware of the expired permit and that recent interactions with city inspectors hadn’t flagged any issues. “A serious problem around here is based on the guys at City Hall who sit behind a desk and write letters,” he said. “They don’t check with the guys in the field.”

Fiano must work with the city to develop an amendment to his original site plan by Friday, Aug. 14. Failure to comply with the notice could hit the developer with penalties of up to $5,000 per day; Ben Woody, Asheville’s director of development services, said Fiano was cooperating with the city and would likely not be assessed any fine.

MOUNTAINX.COM

Asheville School conducts first in-city deer hunt Archers harvested deer on the campus of the private Asheville School, which lies within Asheville city limits, in the first hunt to take place under rules adopted by Asheville City Council on May 12. Council had amended the city’s firearms ordinance to allow bowhunting for the purpose of deer population control at the request of Christopher Arbor, a teacher at the school.

Although the hunt took place outside the regular deer season, the school had obtained a depredation permit from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to take up to 10 deer between June 24 and July 31. A depredation report filed by Robert McArthur, Asheville School’s chief financial officer, said that two male and five female deer had been killed July 2-5.

Asheville’s revised ordinance also requires hunters to obtain “written notice to proceed issued by the Asheville Police Department.” As of press time, the city had not provided any correspondence between the APD and Asheville School or Backyard Bow Pro, the organization hired to conduct the hunt, in response to a July 6 public records request.

• The Blue Ridge Parkway reopened the Julian Price Park and Linville Falls campgrounds effective July 31.

Other Western North Carolina facilities, including the Crabtree Falls and Mount Pisgah campgrounds, remain closed due to COVID-19. More info at avl.mx/7tw.

• The N.C. Forest Service Buncombe County Ranger’s Office offers guidance for local landowners looking to manage their forests as long-term investments. Forest management plans are available at no cost or $5 per acre, depending on the property.

For more information, contact Ranger Dillion Michael at 828-686-5885 or robert.michael@ncagr.gov.

Nonprofit news

• Asheville’s chapter of the National Audubon Society has changed its name to Blue Ridge Audubon.

Previously known as the Elisha

GENTLE TOUCH: Wands for Wildlife collects used mascara wands for wildlife rehabilitation work. Photo courtesy of Appalachian Wildlife Refuge

Responsible Automotive Service & Repair

Bring

LOVE

everywhere you go.

THE CHOPPING BLOCK: The Friends of East Flat Rock community group opposes plans for a new asphalt plant in Henderson County, to be located in the forested parcel shown in the center of this aerial photo. Photo by Tim Culberson, courtesy of Friends of East Flat Rock Mitchell Audubon Society after the early conservationist, the local chapter made the shift in condemnation of Mitchell’s vocal support for slavery.

More info at avl.mx/7t8.

• Wands for Wildlife, launched in March 2017 as a program of the Appalachian Wildlife Refuge, was converted into a separate nonprofit on Aug. 1. The new organization will continue to collect used mascara wands for repurposing in wildlife rehabilitation work, as well as conduct education about the impact of plastic use on the environment. More info at WandsForWildlife. org.

• Asheville-based MountainTrue joined the Southern Environmental Law Center and 15 other plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the administration of President Donald Trump. The suit objects to federal actions that weakened the National Environmental Policy Act, which Julie Mayfield, MountainTrue’s co-director, called “our basic national charter for protection of the environment.” More info at avl.mx/7ta.

• Hendersonville-based Conserving Carolina conveyed 315 additional acres to the N.C. Forest Service to complete the Continental Divide Tract in the DuPont State Recreational Forest.

The new land connects the forest with a conservation corridor of over 100,000 acres and protects tributaries of the Green River and Reasonover Creek. More info at avl.mx/7te.

• The Canary Coalition, a Sylva-based nonprofit that played a critical role in early efforts to improve WNC’s air quality, has dissolved after 20 years.

According to Smoky Mountain News, the move came after the retirement of founder Avram Friedman and fundraising difficulties due to COVID-19.

More info at avl.mx/7tg.

Taking action

• According to a July 27 press release from the city of Asheville, the local recycling contamination rate has increased to 8% from a low of 5% several years ago. The city encourages residents to download the AVL Collects app (avl.mx/7t2), which provides information about allowed recyclables and Asheville’s recycling pickup schedule.

• The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality holds an in-person public hearing about hazardous waste cleanup permitting for the former DuPont Brevard facility at Brevard City Hall 1 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7. A digital public hearing will also take place on Tuesday, Aug. 11, and comment may be emailed through Saturday, Aug. 22, to Julie.Woosley@ncdenr.gov. More info at avl.mx/7t3.

• The Friends of East Flat Rock community group, which has organized against SE Asphalt’s proposal to build a new plant off Spartanburg Highway, is accepting entries in a youth poster contest through Monday, Aug. 10.

Artists are asked to draw before and after pictures depicting the plant’s potential impact; top prize is a $100 gift card. More info at avl.mx/7t4.

Voted one of the BEST OF WNC for 14 years in a row. Thank you!

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organic-mechanic.com • 568 Haywood Rd • West Asheville

Please donate to preserve the Ravenscroft Reserve!

The magnificent trees of the Ravenscroft Reserve on the South Slope need your help to provide benefits for this and future generations of Asheville residents and visitors.

• The N.C. Department of Transportation and N.C. State Parks seek responses to a survey about the Great Trails State Plan. The proposed network would link all 100 of the state’s counties through shared-use paths and trails. More info at avl.mx/7us.

• The Great Smoky Mountains Association invites lovers of the outdoors to participate in the Public Lands Alliance’s visitor intention survey. This monthly check-in tracks changes in sentiment around the use of national parks and forests during COVID-19. More info at avl.mx/7t5. X

To learn more and donate, visit the Ravenscroft Reserve Initiative at ashevillegreenworks.org/RRI. Donations are tax-deductible and directly support this preservation effort.

MOUNTAINX.COM

AUG. 5-11, 2020

23

FOOD

Rolling with the punches Food trucks find new territory and upgrade safety measures to feed residents weary of home cooking

COMFORT FOOD

WE ARE OPEN! Limited capacity dine-in, take-out & delivery are available.

We hope to see you soon!

828 - 417-7424 575 Haywood Rd. West Asheville

Dog friendly patio dining nightly Contact-free takeout Full menu available Please visit us at plantisfood.com for hours of operation 165 Merrimon Avenue 828-258-7500 24

AUG. 5-11, 2020

BY KAY WEST kwest@mountainx.com Have truck, will travel might idealistically describe the food truck business, but the reality is that securing a legal parking space for serving tacos, pizza, barbecue and other mobile favorites has long been a challenge in Asheville and Buncombe County.

“Generally, food trucks were limited to certain commercial areas,” says Ben Woody, director of the Asheville’s Development Services Department.

When Asheville began allowing food trucks to operate within the city in 2012, they were not permitted in residential areas or within the central business district (downtown Asheville). Instead, many trucks kept regular, weekly hours at breweries, a reliable arrangement until taprooms were ordered to close in March due to COVID-19.

In response, Mayor Esther Manheimer issued a revision to the city’s State of Emergency order on March 24 allowing food trucks more leeway on where they could park. “With the exception of the [central business district], we essentially let food trucks out into a wider world, thinking it was helpful to them and a way to bring food to people who were sheltering at home,” Woody explains. Those relaxed rules mean food trucks can operate at apartment complexes, community centers, libraries, school properties, places of worship or on vacant property as long as they are more than 50 feet from an occupied residence — and “not set up in the middle of the street,” he clarifies.

AJ Gregson, owner of Black Bear BBQ restaurant and food truck, was a step ahead after closing his dining room March 16. “I started scratching my head on where I could be that had the most people and operate safely,” he recalls.

“People were sheltering at home at that point, and we felt like we could break up the monotony of whatever people were cooking. We started going to apartment complexes, and at that time, the truck really saved us.”

Chris and Stephanie Cogswell have been cooking seasonal, local, creative cuisine from their Appalachian Chic food truck since 2015 at New Belgium, Highland, Pisgah and Noble Cider breweries. “When they shut down, I Googled apartment complexes in

MOUNTAINX.COM

KEEP ON TRUCKIN’: Tin Can Pizzeria and other Asheville food trucks have added new service protocols and safety measures to serve customers from a distance.

Photo courtesy of Chris Maness Asheville, targeted the bigger ones and started calling,” says Chris. “I probably called 30, and the majority embraced the idea. We also had places reach out to us, like Blue Ridge Community College and WNC Community Health. People were thrilled to have options.”

In addition to meeting the usual state and county sanitation requirements, local food trucks are committing to new safety measures. “We switched from plates to boxing everything up, stopped taking cash, secured our chip reader outside the truck and set up an online Square store so people could order, pay and set a pickup time,” Chris says.

Gregson jokes that by their nature, food trucks seem to offer customers a sense of security. “We have the height of the truck going for us, and the wall between us,” he points out. “People can stand 6 feet back from the window and yell their order at me if it makes them feel better.”

Chris Maness spent 20 years turning lemons into MacDaddy’s Organic Lemonade, doing a brisk business at events, music shows and festivals in Western North Carolina and South Florida. It all went sour this spring thanks to COVID-19, but it turned out to be good timing that he and partners Thomas Garrett and Jordan Wilson had taken over the 8-year-old Tin Can Pizzeria in February.

They upgraded the truck with new equipment, increased the pizza size to 12 inches, changed the dough recipe, added more locally sourced ingredients, then operated for about a month at Wedge Brewery until it shut down in mid-March. Even so, “Having the truck turned out to be a blessing after festivals and events were wiped out and MacDaddy’s was out of business,” Maness says.

Maness, Garrett and Wilson initially began serving lunch and dinner from Tin Can Pizzeria at the Kounty LineReynolds convenience store. But after adding safety precautions, including a Plexiglass shield, single-use boxes to replace reusable pans and a cashless, no-contact system, they sought out residential options. “We’ve probably done 20 different apartment complexes from Fletcher to Weaverville,” says Maness.

“The residents were really happy to see us. You can only eat frozen pizza so many times.”

With breweries reopening, Tin Can Pizzeria has started serving at some with large outdoor areas and continues to operate in a couple of neighborhoods where there has been a good response. If things should shut down again, though, Maness says he’s ready. “That’s the advantage of the truck. We can go where the people are. A fresh-baked pizza can really lift people’s spirits.” X

Special delivery

Cottage food businesses offer customers ways to creatively connect with community

RX FOR GRATITUDE: Hand-painted, custom sugar cookies by Meg’s Bake Shop send a sweet thanks to medical professionals. Photo courtesy of Megan Doyle Since COVID-19 began wreaking its havoc in mid-March, business owners have faced unprecedented challenges. But amid the storm clouds, some local entrepreneurs have found silver linings with products that provide innovative ways for customers to connect with family, friends and community.

Ginger Frank launched Poppy Handcrafted Popcorn from a small shop on Merrimon Avenue in 2014.

Her all-natural, gourmet popcorn was such a hit she quickly added online ordering and began wholesaling to retail outlets nearby and nationwide, manufacturing and shipping from a production facility in Black Mountain. When the lease on her Merrimon Avenue retail space ended in March, Frank was preparing to move the business downtown.

But the coronavirus not only upended that plan, it also had a crushing impact on her wholesale trade, annihilating 80% of her business.

There was some good news, however. “We have had so many people order online it’s been kind of incredible,” she says. “We saw immediately that popcorn seemed to become a comfort food with parents sending it to their kids, friends to friends, companies to staff working remotely.”

gift cards has really been one of the sweetest parts for us through this.”

Megan Doyle has also observed kind and encouraging messages being conveyed through the made-toorder, hand-decorated sugar cookies she produces and ships to customers through her Marshall-based business, Meg’s Bake Shop. Doyle moved to Asheville in 2018 from South Florida, where she had a successful flan business but quickly made a shift to a more crowd-pleasing niche in her new hometown. “No one here was familiar with flan,” she says with a laugh. “Everybody loves cookies.”

Along with a significant uptick in sales since stay-at-home orders were put in place, Doyle has noticed that some customers are using the sweets to acknowledge the efforts of front-line workers in the ongoing health crisis.

“People are shipping them for birthdays and special occasions when they can’t be together to celebrate, but the nicest thing is seeing people send them to doctors and nurses to say thank you,” she says.

— Kay West X

In response, Frank put together themed popcorn bundles of four assorted flavors. “It seems ridiculous we weren’t doing that before,” she says. “Thank you, COVID, for that aha moment. Online orders are definitely what got us through those first couple months, and with that jump and wholesale accounts reopening, we’ve been able to hire back almost all of our 28 employees.”

Jessie Dean introduced Asheville Tea Co. at tailgate markets in 2016.

Her 10 blends of craft teas with regionally sourced herbs and botanicals struck a chord in the wellness and craft beverage markets; she added wholesale to restaurants, cafes and retail in 2017 and an online store in 2018. Dean was preparing to unveil new eco-friendly packaging and artwork in March, but the pandemic pushed the pause button.

“We were a little behind anyway, so we used April and May to focus on pulling those final pieces together,” Dean says. While many of her wholesale accounts were shuttered, online ordering took a leap — particularly popular were her themed gift boxes. “I think people were looking for a way to creatively connect with family and friends they can’t see, so they’re sending them tea boxes.

Writing their caring messages on our MOUNTAINX.COM

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT MOUNTAIN X P R ES S

Honoring and obliterating tradition

2020 X AWARDS

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mountainx.com/ bestofwnc

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Eleanor Underhill returns with new solo album

BY BILL KOPP bill@musoscribe.com In late 2018, Eleanor Underhill released her debut solo album, Navigate the Madness. While she didn’t — and still doesn’t plan to — abandon her popular and widely admired duo Underhill Rose, the Asheville-based musician made plain her desire to expand her musical vision to encompass a wider view. But even the eclectic collection of songs on her debut might not prepare listeners for the great creative leap forward that is her newest record, Land of the Living.

Eleanor Underhill & Friends celebrate that album’s release with a livestream concert on Thursday, Aug. 6, at The Grey Eagle, and an online video premiere the next evening.

While Underhill Rose has charted a consistent (and critically acclaimed) musical path, Underhill takes a different approach for her solo work.

Land of the Living represents a radical yet surefooted departure from the Americana textures for which she was once known. But rather than heading in one specific new direction, the album boldly embarks upon multiple journeys — listeners may detect the influences of rock, jazz, chillwave, trip-hop and ’90s R&B. In that sense, Underhill establishes herself in a category alongside artists like Suzanne Vega and Todd Rundgren, musicians whose work steadfastly resists categorization.

“I grew up listening to everything,” Underhill says. “I played trombone in the middle school band, and I really got into jazz. I grew up listening to all the folk revivalists and The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.” The first album she purchased was Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814, and she later went through an extended Grateful Dead and Phish phase. “And all these different influences have seeped in,” she says. Land of the Living is the result of Underhill giving herself “the permission to just have fun and not worry about genre.”

Underhill emphasizes that her love for Americana hasn’t dimmed a bit.

“But I get bored, just like anyone

MOUNTAINX.COM

STRANGE CHEMISTRY: Setting aside the Americana textures of Underhill Rose, Eleanor Underhill paints music on a much broader canvas on her second solo album.

Land of the Living draws from an eclectic range of styles and influences, yet it holds together as a seamless whole. Photo by Kristen Marie Greene, KMG*Photography else,” she says. “And I am following the joy. If something is fresh and new and exciting for me, I’m trying to lean into that.”

While her collaboration with Molly Rose in Underhill Rose is democratic in nature, Underhill’s solo work — billed in live settings as “Eleanor Underhill & Friends” — finds her applying a kind of benign control in the studio. “There’s a lot of me saying, ‘Just do what you feel, just have fun, just react,’” she says. Still, she holds the reins on production “so that I can say, ‘Is it OK if I play around with what you did?’”

In practice for Underhill, that often means doing postproduction editing on recorded parts — assembling a finished product using a cut-and-paste method not unlike the approach used

by Miles Davis and producer Teo Macero on the landmark Bitches Brew album. Underhill enjoys the freedom that this avenue brings.

Land of the Living combines that edgy methodology with a more traditional approach to recording. “I think there is something beautiful and important to raw performances,” Underhill says. “However, I’m also a big fan of sampling, where sounds

have been manipulated and pulled out of context. There are things that I come to in my solo-focused space that I could not have come to if someone was leaning over my shoulder.”

And the musical curveballs keep coming. Banjo is the instrument with which Underhill is most readily associated (and most often photographed). And while her banjo playing is featured on Land of the Living, it’s decidedly not a centerpiece of the record. Instead, listeners are treated to displays of the multi-instrumentalist’s musical expression on sitar, synthesizer and even Mellotron.

Composing songs on synthesizers instead of a banjo often yielded very different results for Underhill. “It broke me out of some habits that I might have gone to, and that’s exactly what I wanted,” she says. “I wanted to push myself to write in a different way — that was a big part of the whole thing.” But she doesn’t think the music is too different from what it might have otherwise been. “When you get right down to it, a song is the lyrics and the melody,” she says.

Still, there are a lot of keyboards on Land of the Living. “All the synths, Moog, piano … all of that is me,”

Underhill says. And technology figures into the album in another way: The day after the livestream concert, Eleanor Underhill & Friends will premiere a long-form video of the entire album on Facebook.

Underhill allows that her solo work’s wide-scope approach brings challenges. “I’m at that moment now where it’s hard to [promote] the album, because there are so many different types of songs on it,” she says. But she nevertheless trusted that she had to follow her inspiration where it took her. “I knew I couldn’t hold myself back,” she says. “I would not feel as proud of the product if I tried to limit myself.” eleanorunderhillmusic.com X

WHO Eleanor Underhill & Friends — livestream concert WHERE The Grey Eagle, facebook.com/greyeagleasheville/ WHEN Thursday, Aug. 6, 8 p.m. Free

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AUG. 5-11, 2020

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SMART BETS

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

28

Say Their Names + Racial Justice

Crafted Roots

Throughout July, the Oak Street Gallery of Asheville’s First Congregational United Church of Christ has housed the exhibit Say Their Names. Conceived by a group of the church’s members in hopes of “sharing the trials and tribulations, some lethal, of being Black” in the U.S., the project looped in the talents of the Carolina Lettering Arts Society and regional calligraphy guild The Mountain Scribes to honor over 60 Black Americans who had fatal encounters with law enforcement. The exhibit has since moved to the YMI Cultural Center, where it will open on Friday, Aug. 7, and be on display for a month, clearing the way for the series’ second component, Racial Justice, Thursday, Aug. 6-Saturday, Aug. 29. The new show “will also utilize calligraphy in both prose and art form to depict Black experiences” and will be viewable each Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 1-4 p.m. Masks are required, and social distancing is enforced. Free to attend. uccasheville.org. Photo of Black Lives Matter quilt by Carol DuBosch courtesy of First Congregational UCC

Curious how the Asheville area came to have such a thriving craft community?

Crafted Roots: Stories and Objects from the Appalachian Mountains, a new exhibit at the Center for Craft, examines “the foundational moments in the late 1800s and early 1900s that laid the groundwork” for the modern scene. Curated by Michael Hatch, owner of glassblowing studio and gallery Crucible Glassworks, the exhibit utilizes audio recordings, historical documents, images and objects from the archives and permanent collections of the Southern Highland Craft Guild to bring the past to life. “This exhibition asks you to deaccelerate, to actively listen,” Hatch says. “Eric Franklin of the Loveland Museum, one of my program mentors, says that when he listens to these recordings, he feels as if he is in the room with the narrators, sitting across the table from them as they tell him their stories.” The exhibit will be on display through Oct. 30. Free to attend. centerforcraft.org. Photo of Brasstown Carvers courtesy of the Southern Highland Craft Guild Archives

Costume Drama: A Fashion Show

Inspirational Cragmont Community Ancestors

For the first time in its nine-year history, Asheville Community Theatre’s annual Costume Drama: A Fashion Show fundraiser will be presented as an online streaming event. On Saturday, Aug. 8, at 7:30 p.m., 15 local designers will share their creative garments made from unconventional materials, including keyboards, watches, tarps, cellophane, cardboard and office supplies. In order to meet COVID-19 safety guidelines, ACT scheduled one designer/model pair at a time and filmed them over several days with BClip Productions. Contestants in the “Project Runway”-esque show will compete in Best Concept or Story, Best Unexpected Material, Best Creativity and Best Composition. The Best in Show winner will be chosen from these four designs and will receive a $500 prize. The other three winners will each receive a $250 prize. $25. ashevilletheatre.org. Photo of Ray Fawley’s 2019 Best in Show winner and Paper category winner, modeled by Lauren Rivas, by Max Ganly

The Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center was all set to reopen from its annual winter break in May with a new exhibit on its second floor, spotlighting remarkable people from the Swannanoa Valley’s history. Working with Black Mountain native Regina Lynch-Hudson, who’s now based in Atlanta, they created pop-up banners focusing on different personalities, with an emphasis on African American history. But when the COVID19 pandemic kept the museum from operating as planned, Lynch-Hudson felt inspired to take the exhibit’s design and information and transform them into short films. The result is Inspirational Cragmont Community Ancestors: Strength Stems from Struggle, which elevates the lives of John Myra Stepp, Mary Louisa Stepp Burnette Hayden, George Winslow Whittington and Winfred William Lynch.

Free to view. avl.mx/7u6. Photo of Mary Louisa Stepp Burnette Hayden, left, courtesy of the Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center/ Mary Othella Burnette

AUG. 5-11, 2020

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CLUBLAND

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FAREWELL, MOTHLIGHT: Before permanently closing, West Asheville’s Mothlight will celebrate seven years of live music with a virtual concert. Featuring local garage-pop artist Indigo De Souza, pictured, with The Dead Tongues and MANAS, the show will stream live on Wednesday, Aug. 12, at 8 p.m. $12. avl.mx/7uj. Photo by Hannah Sommer

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5 LAURA'S PIZZA & TRATTORIA Soulshine Jam w/ Bongo Surf Kings, 4pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. French Broad Valley Mountain Music Jam, 6pm WAVERLY INN David Childers (folk), 6pm THE JOINT NEXT DOOR Laura Thurston (solo acoustic), 6pm 185 KING STREET Team Trivia & Games, 7pm CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE Outdoor Trivia Night w/ Bingeable, 7pm TRISKELION BREWERY Interactive TriskaTrivia, 7pm TWIN LEAF BREWERY Open Mic w/ Thomas Yon, 7pm

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 6 LAZY HIKER BREWING Open Jam, 5pm ISIS MUSIC HALL Rebecca & the Reckoning (Americana), 6:30pm TRISKELION BREWERY Irish Session (traditional Celtic music), 6:30pm THE GREY EAGLE q Eleanor Underhill & Friends Album Release Show. Learn more

Why I support Xpress:

on Page 26. 8pm, avl.mx/7rt BALSAM FALLS BREWING CO. Open Mic Night, 8pm BEN’S TUNE UP Comedy Open Mic w/ Baby George, 9pm

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7 ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Free Dead Friday (Grateful Dead tribute), 5:30pm WHITESIDE BREWING CO. Doug Ramsay (jazz, soul), 5:30pm BURNTSHIRT VINEYARDS Pretty Little Goat (Appalachian roots), 6pm APPALACHIAN RIDGE ARTISAN CIDERY Izzi Hughes (rock, folk), 6:30pm THE GREY EAGLE Patio Show w/ Reverend Finster (acoustic R.E.M. tribute), 7pm ISIS MUSIC HALL Lawn Concert w/ Chuck Brodsky & Chris Rosser (folk), 7pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Scott Moss & Derek McCoy (acoustic duo), 8pm THE JOINT NEXT DOOR Quick Chester (funk, groove), 9pm BEN’S TUNE UP DJ Kilby Spinning Vinyl, 10pm AUX BAR DJ Databoy & DJ Woodside, 11pm

SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 NANTAHALA BREWING SYLVA Shane Meade (solo acoustic), 5pm BATTERY PARK BOOK EXCHANGE Dinah's Daydream (jazz), 6pm ISIS MUSIC HALL Lawn Concert w/ Hannah Kaminer (folk, Americana), 6:30pm ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Ethan Heller Trio (psychedelic), 7pm WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN q Franklin Keel & Kevin Spears (classical, jazz), 8pm, avl.mx/7ug

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185 KING STREET Random Animals (indie, soul), 8pm WILD WING CAFE Karaoke Night, 9:30pm

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ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Sexbruise? (electronic, improvisational), 10pm

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ISIS MUSIC HALL Lawn Concert w/ The Hot Club of Asheville (jazz), 6:30pm

MONDAY, AUGUST 10 ARCHETYPE BREWING WEST Old Time Jam w/ Banjo Mitch McConnell, 6pm HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Nerdy Talk Trivia, 6pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. It Takes All Kinds Open Mic Night, 7pm

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OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. French Broad Valley Mountain Music Jam, 6pm

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ISIS MUSIC HALL Lawn Concert w/ Country Pour (honky tonk), 6:30pm

185 KING STREET Team Trivia & Games, 7pm

THE GREY EAGLE Patio Show w/ J.W. Carlson & Matt Smith (country), 7pm

MOUNTAIN SPIRIT q Flagship Romance (folk, alternative), 7pm, avl.mx/7t0

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Izzi Hughes (rock, folk), 8pm

TWIN LEAF BREWERY Open Mic w/ Thomas Yon, 7pm

185 KING STREET One Night Stand String Band (bluegrass), 8pm

THE MOTHLIGHT q Farewell Mothlight w/ The Dead Tongues, Indigo De Souza and MANAS, 8pm, avl.mx/7uj

BALSAM FALLS BREWING CO. Open Mic Night, 8pm BEN’S TUNE UP Comedy Open Mic w/ Baby George, 9pm

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MOVIE REVIEWS THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTORS

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

BRUCE STEELE bcsteele@gmail.com

= MAX RATING

Creem: America’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll Magazine HHHH

DIRECTOR: Scott Crawford PLAYERS: Cameron Crowe, Joan Jett, Alice Cooper DOCUMENTARY NOT RATED

Out Stealing Horses HHHHS

DIRECTOR: Hans Petter Moland PLAYERS: Stellan Skarsgård, Bjørn Floberg, Tobias Santelmann FOREIGN FILM/MYSTERY NOT RATED Literary novels, driven by ideas and characterizations rather than propelled principally by plot, often don’t translate well to film. Out Stealing Horses is the rare exception. Watching the film is an experience like reading a great book — events unfold gradually and with poignant imagery and sharply drawn characters. There’s plenty of plot — injury, death, betrayal, desertion — but it’s in the service of the storyteller’s very human lessons.

In this case, the central storyteller is Trond (Swedish star Stellan Skarsgård), a Norwegian man in his late 60s who has retreated to rural Sweden on a pension after the death of his wife. He spends his time reliving the summer of 1948, when he was 15 and lived with his father in a woodsy cabin. Yes, it’s one of those “the summer that changed everything” movies, and the title refers to young Trond’s last moment of unfettered freedom, riding a neighbor’s horses bareback without permission.

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AUG. 5-11, 2020

Beyond that, it would be difficult (and rather pointless) to summarize the movie’s complex plot. Suffice it to say that there’s a family tragedy that changes the course of everyone’s lives, and it’s both heartbreaking and elegantly rendered.

Writer/director Hans Petter Moland (Cold Pursuit) has a great eye for Norwegian landscapes, making the natural world integral and lovely without resorting to postcardlike lingering.

He also has a fine hand with actors of all ages, coaxing potent expressions of difficult emotions without melodrama.

Skarsgård has rarely been better, and teenage newcomer Jon Ranes, as his younger counterpart, is quite the find — boyish but with a great capacity for melancholy.

The movie ends not with big plot twists, but with gradual revelations about human frailty and forgiveness worthy of an Ang Lee film. Some viewers may find the movie a bit pokey and inconclusive, but I found its incremental evolutions true and touching — well worth the investment.

REVIEWED BY BRUCE STEELE BCSTEELE@GMAIL.COM

MOUNTAINX.COM

Creem: America’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll Magazine is a sprawling, irreverent, touching and problematic look at the rise and fall of the first formidable alternative to mainstream music journalism.

In its 20-year run, Creem’s staff elevated the hardcore Detroit punk rock scene while being punk themselves — cussing each other out, beating each other up and, in two major instances, dying way too young.

Directed by Scott Crawford (Salad Days), the documentary is rich in gossip, photos, video clips and punchy animation that imbue the magazine with a crass cool that will inspire hardcore rock fans to hunt for surviving copies in every nook of the web.

Record store owner Barry Kramer founded Creem in Detroit in 1969, not long after Rolling Stone emerged in San Francisco. Creem’s office opened in, according to local DJ Dan Carlisle, “a decrepit, war zone of slums,” flipping a Midwestern middle finger to Rolling Stone founder/publisher Jann Wenner’s “establishment” counterculture aesthetic and to coastal elites in general.

Creem focused on counter-counterculture bands like the MC5, Iggy and the Stooges and Alice Cooper. Among its contributors was acidic music critic Lester Bangs, journalist-turned-filmmaker Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous) and cartoonist Robert Crumb, known as “R. Crumb,” creator of iconic characters such as Fritz the Cat, the Keep on Truckin’ trip and Creem’s mascot, Boy Howdy.

Unfortunately, the eccentric Crumb doesn’t participate in the documentary, but Crowe does, along with GenX fans like Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and REM’s Michael Stipe, plus many wide-eyed devotees. Actor Jeff Daniels recalls the magazine’s allure, “Buying Creem was a little like buying Playboy — you didn’t want your parents to see either one of them.”

Daniels’ take makes sense: Even though Creem had many women staff-

Melissa Williams

Cameron Allison

Ali McGhee

ers, it’s recalled as a “boys’ magazine” that was sexist, homophobic and often just plain mean. Jaan Uhelszki, a co-producer of the documentary who was also one of Creem’s women writers, shrugs: “It was the ’70s. I mean, there weren’t the same filters there are now. I mean, kill me.”

It’s also notable — and disappointing — that Black people’s perspectives are largely absent from this film. Creem was born in one of America’s Blackest cities, but aside from adoring commentary from journalist Scott Sterling and brief reverential nods to artists like Parliament-Funkadelic and the Motown roster, people of color aren’t shown speaking about Creem’s, or even Detroit’s, history. What a missed opportunity to deepen this story.

Creem, much like punk itself, began its spiritual decline as the 1980s unfolded. Kramer, its bombastic visionary publisher, died by suicide at age 47, in 1981. Bangs died a year later, from a drug overdose at 33.

The magazine shuttered in 1989, leaving a legacy of chaos and cool, wonderfully captured in this film. And, in true Creem fashion, the documentary ends not with remorse or regrets, but with a dig at the intelligence of Ted Nugent.

Kramer and Bangs would have wanted it that way.

REVIEWED BY MELISSA WILLIAMS

I Used to Go Here HHHHS

DIRECTOR: Kris Rey PLAYERS: Gillian Jacobs, Jemaine Clement, Zoe Chao COMEDY NOT RATED A college graduate in a state of emotional and professional ennui, returning to his or her alma mater in search of inspiration and/or guidance isn’t a new concept, but as filtered through the talents of writer/director Kris Rey in I Used to Go Here, it feels remarkably fresh.

The well-made comedy centers on 35-year-old Chicago writer Kate (Gillian Jacobs, Don’t Think Twice), whose debut novel is underperforming to the point that its publishers cancel her book tour.

Atop this career disappointment, her ex-fiancé won’t return her calls or texts, and all her friends seem to be pregnant,

so when her former Illinois University professor David Kirkpatrick (Jemaine Clement) invites her to do a reading on campus, all of the ingredients for a quality rebound story start falling into place.

Back in Carbondale — home of fictional IU’s inspiration, Southern Illinois University, of which Rey (Unexpected) is an alum — Kate encounters a series of goofy yet realistic characters, beginning with her overly earnest grad assistant chauffeur, Elliot (Rammel Chan, The End of the Tour).

Utilizing the uniquely charming brand of jaded optimism she’s cultivated throughout her career, Jacobs employs her skillset to great effect as Kate navigates familiar and new faces. Whether irking her bed-and-breakfast’s owner or befriending the quirky students who now live in her former house, she’s a joy to behold, and adds new layers while trying to get a read on David, with whom she sensed a mutual connection during her undergrad days.

Two of comedy’s most gifted stars, Clement and Jacobs shine brightest when they share scenes. And with the exception of Josh Wiggins (Greyhound) — whose Hugo is distractingly puppy-dog interested in Kate, an attitude that doesn’t jibe with the heartbreak he allegedly feels on account of his girlfriend April (Hannah Marks, Banana Split) possibly cheating on him — the film’s ensemble ably supports the two leads.

But beyond the bubbly intergenerational fun and measured character growth, I Used to Go Here further stands apart from its genre peers by virtue of its unpredictability. Despite building to two fairly inevitable romantic entanglements, one hookup is more complicated than it appears, and the other is handled with applaudable maturity.

Even the reason for Kate’s wedding bell blues is more soulful and self-empowering than her actions initially suggest — a testament to Rey’s knowledge of and willingness to subvert rom-com expectations, as well as her commitment to challenging gender norms.

REVIEWED BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN EARNAUDIN@MOUNTAINX.COM

River City Drumbeat HHHHS

DIRECTORS: Anne Flatté and Marlon Johnson PLAYERS: Ed Hamilton, Imani Keith, Jailen Leavell DOCUMENTARY NOT RATED

“Black Lives Arts Matter.”

Matter.

Black

Early in the documentary River City Drumbeat, these powerful words blast from a speaker addressing the children of the River City Drum Corps — an immersive music, cultural and educational youth program in Louisville, Ky. The mantra then reverberates throughout the film, which chronicles the passing of RCDC leadership from Ed “Nardie” White to his protégé, Albert Shumake, as well as their joint efforts to help the children and the RCDC develop.

Directed by Anne Flatté and Marlon Johnson, River City Drumbeat is above all a testament to Black excellence, beginning with its opening quote, “We desire to bequeath two things to our children. The first one is roots, the other is wings.” Featuring the development of the youths who participate in the program and the community that has a hand in raising them, this documentary is equal parts powerful and inspirational. Whether it be hearing how the RCDC program has helped children transition to adulthood or how it’s kept them away from the violence and drugs that are prominent in their neighborhoods, the positive results within the community are undeniable.

Throughout River City Drumbeat, the passing of the torch from White to Shumake smartly introduces audiences to different aspects of Black culture via music and art. Looking into the two men’s lives, seeing the impact the arts have had on them and why they are incredible leaders despite their circumstances, nicely emphasizes how passion can shape one’s journey — and is truly a privilege to watch.

REVIEWED BY CAMERON ALLISON CAMERONRTALLISON@GMAIL.COM

You Never Had It: An Evening with Bukowski HHHS DIRECTOR: Matteo Borgardt PLAYERS: Charles Bukowski, Silvia Bizio DOCUMENTARY NOT RATED More an extended interview than a documentary, Matteo Borgardt’s You Never Had It is a tight, 53-minute conversation filmed in 1981 between Italian interviewer Silvia Bizio and famously misanthropic writer and visual artist Charles Bukowski, along with a few of the poet’s intimates, including soonto-be wife Linda Lee and cat Max. (Bukowski claimed to hate people, but he unabashedly adored his feline companions.) While fans already familiar with his life and output will get the most out of the film, even people new

to Bukowski will be entertained, and even charmed, by the curmudgeonly, hard-drinking subject.

The documentary cuts between grainy footage shot on U-matic tapes at Bukowski’s San Pedro, Calif., home — where a rambling interview took place over six hours, countless cigarettes and at least seven bottles of wine — and scenes of Los Angeles street life in 2016, from diners and convenience stores to tent cities for the unhoused.

That more recent footage is filmed on a Super 8 camera in the same style as the ’81 interview, so it almost seems as if it had been recorded at the same time.

At one point in the interview, Bukowski says that he wants his writing to “stay down in the streets and not get up in the stars too much” — to which the filmmakers comply, both with these shots (LA is where almost all of Bukowski’s work is set) and with their avoidance of narrativizing or philosophizing, instead letting Bukowski speak for himself.

There are two exceptions — at the very beginning, when present-day Bizio

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gives context for the interview, and the very end, when she reads a poem over a video taken of the writer’s grave and its famous inscription, “Don’t try.” That framing allows us a sweet glimpse of how Bizio herself saw Bukowski and their friendship, and the impact he had on her.

Bukowski is an entertaining subject, and we get the sense that he entertains himself most of all in his cheekily transgressive answers to Bizio’s questions about his writing practice, sex and his opinions of other writers. (Spoiler alert: He doesn’t like them). A few unmissable — and unprintable — moments take place when he shows Bizio his writing desk and its adjoining deck, which overlooks the city and which he confesses he’s walked onto maybe four times since buying the house.

Bukowski says at one point that if writers are too accepted in their lifetimes, then they’re not doing a good job. His uncompromising work and stubborn refusal to fit any mold is a testament to this tenet, and by turning the lens on him, the film helps us see that we’re better off for it.

REVIEWED BY ALI MCGHEE ALIMCGHEE@GMAIL.COM

2020 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour (NR) HHH (GM) A Girl Missing (NR) HHH (GM) Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly (NR) HHHS (GM) Alice (NR) HHH (FA) Amulet (R) HHHH (GM) Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint (NR) HHHS (FA) The Booksellers (NR) HHHS(FA) Creem: America’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine (NR) HHHH (GM) Days of the Whale (NR) HHHS(GM) Fantastic Fungi (NR) HHHH (FA) The Fight (PG-13) HHHH (FA, GM) Flannery (NR) HHHH (FA) Fourteen (NR) HHHH (FA) Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind (NR) HHHS (GM) Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful (NR) HHH (FA) The Hottest August (NR) H (FA) I Used to Go Here (NR) HHHHS (GM) John Lewis: Good Trouble (PG) HHHH (FA, GM) Lucky Grandma (NR) HHHH (FA) My Dog Stupid (NR) HHHH (FA) Out Stealing Horses (NR) HHHHS (Pick of the Week) (FA, GM) Papicha (NR) HHH (FA) Proud (NR) HHH (FA) Rebuilding Paradise (PG-13) HHHS (GM) River City Drumbeat (NR) HHHHS (GM) Runner (NR) HHHS (GM) Someone, Somewhere (NR) HHHH (FA) The Surrogate (NR) HHHHS (FA) The Times of Bill Cunningham (NR) HHHHS (FA) The Tobacconist (NR) HHHS (FA) Vincent Van Gogh: A New Way of Seeing (NR) HHHS (FA) Vitalina Varela (NR) HHHHS (FA) You Never Had It: An Evening with Bukowski (NR) HHHS (GM) MOUNTAINX.COM

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FREEWILL ASTROLOGY ARIES (March 21-April 19): In her book Sticks, Stones, Roots & Bones, Stephanie Rose Bird reports that among early African Americans, there were specialists who spoke the language of trees. These patient magicians developed intimate relationships with individual trees, learning their moods and rhythms and even exchanging nonverbal information with them. Trees imparted wisdom about herbal cures, weather patterns and ecologically sound strategies. Until recently, many scientists might have dismissed this lore as delusion. But in his 2016 book The Hidden Life of Trees, forester Peter Wohlleben offers evidence that trees have social lives and do indeed have the power to converse.

I’ve always said that you Aries folks have great potential to conduct meaningful dialogues with animals and trees. And now happens to be a perfect time for you to seek such invigorating pleasures.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Author Joanne Harris writes, “The right circumstances sometimes happen of their own accord, slyly, without fanfare, without warning. The magic of everyday things.” I think that’s an apt oracle for you to embrace during the coming weeks. In my opinion, life will be conspiring to make you feel at home in the world. You will have an excellent opportunity to get your personal rhythm into close alignment with the rhythm of creation. And so you may achieve a version of what mythologist Joseph Campbell called “the goal of life”: “to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.”

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Author Gloria Anzaldúa writes, “I am an act of kneading, of uniting and joining.” She adds that in this process, she has become “a creature that questions the definitions of light and dark and gives them new meanings.”

I would love for you to engage in similar work right now, Gemini. Life will be on your side — bringing you lucky breaks and stellar insights — if you undertake the heroic work of reformulating the meanings of “light” and “dark” — and then reshaping the way you embody those primal forces.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): “Pleasure is one of the most important things in life, as important as food or drink,” wrote Cancerian author Irving Stone. I would love for you to heed that counsel, my fellow Crabs. What he says is always true, but it will be extraordinarily meaningful for you to take to heart during the coming weeks. Here’s how you could begin: Make a list of seven experiences that bring you joy, bliss, delight, fun, amusement and gratification. Then make a vow — even write an oath on a piece of paper — to increase the frequency and intensity of those experiences.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): At times in our lives, it’s impractical to be innocent and curious and blank and receptive. So many tasks require us to be knowledgeable and self-assured and forceful and in control. But according to my astrological analysis, the coming weeks will be a time when you will benefit from the former state of mind: cultivating what Zen Buddhists call “beginner’s mind.” The Chinese refer to it as chūxīn, or the mind of a novice. The Koreans call it the eee mok oh? approach, translated as “What is this?” Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield defines it as the “don’t-know mind.” During this upcoming phase, I invite you to enjoy the feeling of being at peace with all that’s mysterious and beyond your understanding.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” Author Anne Lamott wrote that, and now I’m conveying it to you — just in time for the Unplug-Yourself Phase of your astrological cycle.

Any glitches or snafus you may be dealing with right now aren’t as serious as you might imagine. The biggest problem seems to be the messy congestion that has accumulated over time in your links to sources that usually serve you pretty well. So if you’ll simply disconnect for a while, I’m betting that clarity and grace will be restored when you reconnect.

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Have you been saving any of your tricks for later? If so, later has arrived.

Have you been postponing flourishes and climaxes until the time was right? If so, the coming days will be as right a time as there can be. Have you been waiting and waiting for the perfect moment before making use of favors that life owes you and promises that were made to you? If so, the perfect moment has arrived. Have you been wondering when you would get a ripe opportunity to express and highlight the most interesting truths about yourself? If so, that opportunity is available.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “I learned to make my mind large, as the universe is large, so that there is room for paradoxes,” writes Scorpio author Maxine Hong Kingston. That would be an excellent task for you to work on in the coming weeks. Here are your formulas for success: 1. The more you expand your imagination, the better you’ll understand the big picture of your present situation — and the more progress you will make toward creating the most interesting possible future.

2. The more comfortable you are about dwelling in the midst of paradoxes, the more likely it is that you will generate vigorous decisions that serve both your own needs and the needs of your allies.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “Some people will never like you because your spirit irritates their demons,” says actor and director Denzel Washington. “When you shine bright, some won’t enjoy the shadow you cast,” says rapper and activist Talib Kweli. You may have to deal with reactions like those in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. If you do, I suggest that you don’t take it personally.

Your job is to be your radiant, generous self — and not worry about whether anyone has the personal power necessary to handle your radiant, generous self. The good news is that I suspect you will stimulate plenty of positive responses that will more than counterbalance the challenging ones.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn occultist Peter J. Carroll tells us, “Some have sought to avoid suffering by avoiding desire. Thus, they have only small desires and small sufferings.” In all of the zodiac, you Capricorns are among the least likely to be like that. One of your potential strengths is the inclination to cultivate robust desires that are rooted in a quest for rich experience. Yes, that sometimes means you must deal with more strenuous ordeals than other people. But I think it’s a wise trade-off. In any case, my dear, you’re now in a phase of your cycle when you should take inventory of your yearnings. If you find there are some that are too timid or meager, I invite you to either drop them or pump them up.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): The people who live in the town of Bazoule, Burkina Faso, regard the local crocodiles as sacred. They live and work amidst the 100+ creatures, coexisting peacefully. Kids play within a few feet of them, never worrying about safety. I’d love to see you come to similar arrangements with untamed influences and strong characters in your own life, Aquarius. You don’t necessarily have to treat them as sacred, but I do encourage you to increase your empathy and respect for them.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Your body naturally produces at least one quart of mucus every day.

You might not be aware of it, because much of it glides down your throat. Although you may regard this snot as gross, it’s quite healthy. It contains antibodies and enzymes that kill harmful bacteria and viruses. I propose we regard mucus as your prime metaphor in the coming weeks. Be on the alert for influences and ideas that might empower you even if they’re less than beautiful and pleasing. Make connections with helpful influences even if they’re not sublimely attractive.

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15 Literary effect in O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi”

edited by Will Shortz 16 Primary ingredient in the snack Muddy Buddies 17 Singular 18 Irritable 19 Mare hair 20 Things that magnets and barbershops both have 22 Unspecified degree 23 “Bad, bad” Brown of song 24 Like a show that’s hard to get tickets for, in brief 25 Promos 28 Outmoded preposition 29 They go back and forth in bad weather 32 Skin abnormality 34 Sergeant’s superior, in slang 35 Move around and around 38 Reveal 40 Erin Burnett’s employer 41 Women’s golf great Lorena 42 [Now that’s relaxing!]

43 Centerpiece of the Oval Office

No. 0701 46 Connections on Air France?

47 How flowers and fabric samples may be sold 49 Onomatopoeic musical effect 51 Atlanta’s public transport system 53 “The Pit and the Pendulum” author, in brief 54 Network of personal relationships … or a punny hint to 3-, 7- and 11-Down 57 Refuse 58 Hold tightly 59 Every country has one 61 Daredevil Knievel 62 Rapper West 63 Holy Roman Empire’s ___ the Great 64 Actor Diggs 65 Golf’s “Slammin’ Sammy” 66 Second-largest moon of Saturn

DOWN 1 Sits (down) hard

puzzle by Amanda Rafkin and Ross Trudeau 2 One helping to build an endowment fund 3 Joins a Federal Reserve Facebook group?

4 Ocular affliction 5 Short-beaked bird 6 Style of music for Pat Benatar or Bon Jovi 7 Uploads a photo of a government security?

8 At risk 9 Bronx team, on scoreboards 10 Ne plus ultra 11 Retweets a photo of the U.S. gold repository?

12 Luciano Pavarotti, e.g.

13 Kind of daisy 21 Brand sold at gas stations 23 Start of a trip, for short?

26 California river known more for salmon and trout than the fish it’s named after 27 “Norma ___” 30 “How was ___ know?”

31 Key near “~” 32 Put your hands together 33 There is one between birthdays 36 Speck 37 Hasty 39 “Flashdance” actor Michael 41 Relative of a giraffe 44 Poison-pen letters, e.g.

45 Exchanged 48 Witch’s laugh

50 Lusting after 52 Comedian ___ Sherman, creator of TV’s “I’ve Got a Secret” 53 Course you slide through 54 Fiji’s largest city 55 Word with sugar or candy 56 Past one’s bedtime, say 57 Hot tub feature 60 Indian tourist destination

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