Mountain Xpress 11.30.23

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PUBLISHER & EDITOR: Jeff Fobes

ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER: Susan Hutchinson

OPERATIONS MANAGER: Able Allen

MANAGING EDITOR: Thomas Calder

NEWS EDITOR: Daniel Walton

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR: Thomas Calder

OPINION EDITOR: Tracy Rose

STAFF REPORTERS: Edwin Arnaudin, Thomas Calder, Justin McGuire, Sara Murphy, Brooke Randle, Jessica Wakeman, Daniel Walton

COMMUNITY CALENDAR & CLUBLAND: Andy Hall

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Lisa Allen, Peter Gregutt, Mary Jean Ronan Herzog, Rob Mikulak

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Mark Barrett, Blake Becker, Morgan Bost, LA Bourgeois, Carmela Caruso, Nikki Gensert, Bill Kopp, Linda Ray, Kay West

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS: Cindy Kunst

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BOOKKEEPER: Amie Fowler

One-party rule in Buncombe?

I’m an independent voter in Buncombe County, and I’ve lived here for a decade since relocating from the Boone area. Every sin gle year, without fail, I’ve noticed that Asheville (and Buncombe as whole) has increasingly become a Democratic stronghold, not unlike every metro area in America. I’ve also noticed the same complaints year in and year out — high cost of living, low-paying jobs, lack of good jobs, homelessness, etc.

And yet, for some reason I can’t begin to fathom, the same people and the same party keep getting reelected. The situation never changes. While you may or may not like the Republicans, the Libertarians, the Greens or any other party, it should be apparent that, as the saying goes, “Insanity is repeating the same action and expecting a different result.”

The dangers of one-party rule are readily available. If you look at Asheville and compare it side by side to metropolises like New York City, Chicago or Los Angeles, you’ll

notice a pattern. Police are woeful ly understaffed. Homelessness is prevalent and increasing. Taxes are up, wages are down, and quality of

life is declining. I get it: Many of you are dyed-in-the-wool Democrats. Some of you see other parties as “evil,” “racist” or what have you.

The thing you’re missing is that, by giving carte blanche to one party, you’ve ensured that your complaints fall on deaf ears. They don’t feel their office is threatened. They know they’re secure in City Hall. There is zero accountability. No one in office now will ask the hard questions and challenge them. Because of that, things in Asheville will predictably follow the same track as the aforementioned cities.

So, I encourage all voters to take a look at where Asheville is going and ask: “Is this what I voted for?”

— Bryan McGuire Weaverville

New plant is leading us in wrong direction

On Nov. 16, Pratt & Whitney had a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the beginning of its adminis trative occupancy of its new plant. Production is expected to begin in the spring.

In its press release about the event, P&W happily stated that it has met or exceeded its own goals for greenhouse gas, water and waste management, and that the building has obtained LEED certification.

An Asheville Watchdog article said, “The company noted during the ceremony that its airfoils help improve jet engine efficiency by up to 50 percent.”

Let’s be clear that war is not green, and the burning of jet engine fuel is one of the largest contributors to climate change. No amount of greenwashing or increased efficiency is sufficient to address the existential emergency humanity is now facing.

Yet, at the gala ceremony, Gov. Cooper celebrated the growing aerospace industry presence in North Carolina and our supposed status as the most military-friendly state in the country.

And Rep. Brian Turner and the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Clark Duncan talk ed exuberantly about recruiting more aerospace companies to fill up the 900 additional acres that Biltmore Farms has set aside for this purpose.

What tragic tunnel vision our elected officials and business leaders have. With their eyes set only on so-called economic devel opment, they fail to see or act on the very real threats to our very existence on this planet.

What does it matter that a plant is better at environmental design when it is intended to make prod

CARTOON BY RANDY MOLTON

ucts that continue to add huge amounts of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere?

How do more military-related jobs here keep us safe from the global threat of nuclear annihila tion Raytheon and its fellow war corporations increasingly provoke in their endless quest for growth in arms sales?

There is plenty of research to show that we can generate more jobs with investments in sustain able energy, education, health, infrastructure, almost anywhere other than the military-industri al complex.

Isn’t it apparent that a primary reason that P&W is moving its operation here is because it will be able to use high-tech methods and exploit nonunion labor in order to put less money into people and more into its own profits? This is what multinational corporations are good at. And our local leaders eat it right up.

The shiny object that is the P&W plant and the plans for more of the same are not economic develop ments that our community should be feeling proud about. They are shameful concessions to a powerful war industry that is leading us in exactly the wrong direction.

— Ken Jones Swannanoa

CARTOON BY BRENT BROWN

Growing pains

BY MILTON READY

In reality, Asheville’s had a hous ing crisis since 2008. So has much of the nation. Thought of as a con tinuum, that crisis often produces more homelessness, less affordable housing for the middle class and service workers, exploitive rents and exorbitant, unaffordable prices for most singles, young marrieds and beginning families. Although Asheville’s lingering housing cri sis was on the ballot in November, don’t look for a quick solution in that eternally problematic political relationship among elected officials, local neighborhood associations and aggressive, hubristic developers.

Today, Asheville’s a tourist des tination fueled by wealth-take-all capitalism beset with growing urban issues such as parking, pollution, land use, development, affordable housing, crime and allocation of tax revenues. Yet are all these intrac table problems with only tempo

ation possibilities. In fact, dominat ed by rural populists, the General Assembly loathes Asheville as it does other large cities like Charlotte and only seeks to limit and balkan ize its political influence through gerrymandering and redistricting, while utilizing its authority to starve the city of revenues and resources. Think of the decadeslong planning and building of Interstate 26 as Raleigh’s revenge on Asheville.

2. Whatever happened to vision aries who, in the past, had differ ent approaches to what Asheville should be all about? Although it’s easy, even fashionable, to be critical of “top down” planners like James Madison Chiles, (Kenilworth) John Nolen (1920s Asheville and Myers Park in Charlotte), and Richard Sharp Smith, (Biltmore House, Biltmore Village and the Biltmore “style”), all left permanent imprints upon Asheville, its neighborhoods and, indeed, on much of Western North Carolina. We need more

temporary big thinkers like the late philanthropist Julian Price, attorney and former Asheville Vice Mayor Gene Ellison and the late Karen

Cragnolin, whose vision and hard work at RiverLink helped transform the River Arts District.

While the tidy minds, miniature models and magic chalkboards of developers are seductive, they also propagate architectural mono cultures that would make areas of Asheville a world apart from its quaint, diverse, mixed-housing, street-based neighborhoods that dot its landscape. Really now, would you rather have a tower block of apartments or a Norwood Park in your future? Or both? Then, too, has any planning committee ever asked a tenant’s perspective on the flaws and benefits of construction, layout or constraints of living in a tower block of apartments? Or in West Asheville?

Handcrafted in Nepal, this HAMMERED BRASS SINGING BOWL embodies two of its richest traditions, metalwork and meditation. Singing bowls help clear your mind, cleanse your heart and comfort your soul. What a beautiful gift for you or someone else you love this holiday season!

3. Asheville’s urban problems are not new, unique or intracta ble. Go back and read Nolen’s 1925 Asheville City Plan for perspective. It aimed for “relief of Asheville’s traffic problems, rapidly assuming serious proportions” via widening main avenues, adding more trolley car and bus routes, and, not sur prisingly, for recreation areas such as a city park and municipal golf course. Moreover, it also promoted tourism, in making Asheville and Western North Carolina “one of the playgrounds of the nation.”

4. Don’t be overly distracted by prickly class-based problems coded in terms like “affordable housing,” “service workers,” “elite lanes for bicyclists,” “Nimbys vs. Newbies,” or “environmentally sustainable and ecologically friendly.” Biltmore Village initially was thought a “A Millionaire’s Village,” while West Asheville was the city’s “redheaded stepchild,” and Lexington Avenue was the heart of America’s “freak

capital.” Remember when Asheville was thought to be a “granola ghet to” in the mountains? And who could have imagined the River Arts District just a few years ago? Yet just look at them today. Neighborhoods and streetscapes change, as do demographics and economies.

5. To argue that neighborhoods like Charlotte Street or a small city or town like Asheville or Blowing Rock need more rapid “development” is to disregard their current prosper ity, slow growth, re-formations and continuing appeal. Frankly, a small dose of exclusivity — not in wealth, but in preserving and promoting distinct, diverse neighborhoods and streetscapes — would only make Asheville more alluring and, yes, as a building form, even tower blocks of apartments have their place.

6. When building Asheville’s future, only a single standard should determine what kind of city it will be: Does the change enhance or contribute to the special qualities of a place and of those who live there or doesn’t it? As you look around and consider the future, what do you want to keep, even safeguard? What matters to you the most? Small neighborhoods and communities? A unique sense of place and its envi ronment? More affordable housing? What makes you love Asheville so much that you would be moved to action? What do you really want for a future Asheville you probably will never see or live in?

7. Finally, why not examine Asheville through two perspectives? One from a bustling downtown, where former hippies have become small-business owners, condos and apartments sprout above Haywood Street, and throngs of tourists crowd shops and restaurants. Then view it from steamy windows around Asheville Middle School on South French Broad Avenue, where his toric African American churches still hold services, whites usually play tennis at Aston Park and the homeless sleep under nearby trees not far from where the tattooed young walk on downtown sidewalks, and, as the 1971 Coca-Cola song lyrically longed for, everyone lives in almost perfect harmony. Yet that, too, is changing.

Retired UNC Asheville history pro fessor Milton Ready lives in the moun tains of Western North Carolina.X

Can Asheville draw on the past to build its future?

MILTON READY

“Asheville’s urban problems are not new, unique or intractable.”

Xpress seeks student writing & art for 2023 Kids Issue

Attention, local kids and teens: If you could travel through time, where would you go? Some historic event in the past? Somewhere in the unknown future? Why? What would you do when you got there?

Once you have an idea, it’s time to get creative, then share your work for possible publication in Xpress’ Kids Issue! The theme for 2023 is “Time Travel: Where would you go and why?”

Each March, Mountain Xpress publishes the colorful, engaging work of Western North Carolina’s K-12 stu dents. There is no fee to enter for pos sible publication, and the deadline for submissions is Friday, Jan. 27.

THEME: ’TIME TRAVEL: WHERE WOULD YOU GO AND WHY?’

Students, here are some questions to think about to get started. What is your favorite historic era? What do you like about it? Would you want to travel back in time to visit that era? What would you do when you got there? Would you want to travel hundreds (or thousands) of years into the future? What would you do when you got there? What questions would you have?

Create art or writing to share your vision!

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Educators, parents and students, please send us the best work in the following categories:

Essays

Essays should be no more than 300 words (though some exceptions can be made). Typed entries are encouraged.

Short fiction

Fiction should be no more than 300 words (though some exceptions can be made). Typed entries are encouraged.

Poems

Short-form poetry is preferred, with poems limited to a maximum of 30 lines. Typed submissions are encouraged.

Art

Art should be digitally photo graphed or be able to be photo graphed by Mountain Xpress.

Photos of sculptures are also per missible. Artists’ statements are welcome.

Photos

Photos should be high resolution, digital photos between 200 KB and 6 MB (cellphone setting of “medi um” size). Artists’ statements are welcome.

Deadline

The deadline is 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, to be considered for publica tion in Xpress’ two-part Kids Issue, publishing March 8 and 15. Sorry, we cannot accept late entries.

Submit your work

Upload student work via this link: avl.mx/c7k

Returns

Mailed or hand-delivered pieces may be picked up after the issue publishes, though Xpress cannot be responsible for their return.

Questions?

Email kids@mountainx.com and one of our staffers will get back in touch.

We can’t wait to see what local kids and teens have to share!

TIME TRAVEL: Local K-12 students are invited to create art and writing for possible publication in the 2023 Mountain Xpress Kids Issue. Deadline is Friday, Jan. 27. Photo by Getty Images

Aiming for safety

BY CARMELA CARUSO

carmela.caruso@yahoo.com

Days after what would have been her son’s 19th birthday, Javelin Duncan organized her first public rally. Titled “Enough,” it brought together about a dozen parents who, like Duncan, had lost their children to gun violence. Her son Teylyn McAlpin, then 17, was killed Nov. 28, 2020, near a baseball field in Montford; Duncan has since moved to Charlotte.

“You know how you count down birthdays? We don’t count down birth days, we count down death dates and anniversary dates,” she told Xpress “It’s going to be two years, and my son’s killer is still out there on the run.”

At the time, two suspects were charged with first-degree murder — a 16-year-old minor and Dionate Whitson, who was several years older and is still at large today. Although Whitson was initially questioned by police, he was released and has since disappeared.

So far in 2022, there have been 11 homicides in Asheville, the sec ond-highest count in the last decade. (In 2018, there were 12.) As of Sept. 15, there had been 32 gunshot victims in the city, up from 24 through the same date last year. Aggravated assault, involving serious injury or use of a deadly weapon, was up by 44%.

Duncan says that she and parents like her have had enough. The group met in Pack Square Park on Sept. 17 to shine a spotlight on gun violence and demand justice. “I’m hoping that the right person or people or group will look at this and say, ‘What is going on in Asheville? What are all these cold cases? Why are all these families asking for justice for their kids and nothing is being done?’” Duncan wonders.

According to Capt. Joe Silberman of the Asheville Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division, there is “really no hard, hard definition” for a cold case because each one is “unique.” Accordingly, the depart ment views its cases as either open or solved.

In the last five years, Asheville has seen 52 homicides, and 16 remain open. McAlpin’s case is considered solved because two suspects have been charged, even though Whitson isn’t in custody. In such cases, Silberman explains, the APD continues to investi gate tips related to a suspect’s where

abouts and works closely with the U.S. Marshals Service.

COUNCIL NO-SHOWS

Duncan plans to organize a second rally in January but is waiting to hear back from the city before setting a date. She says she was disappoint ed by City Council members’ failure to attend the September event after she’d reached out to all of them: One sent regrets, and the others didn’t respond at all, Duncan reports.

During a July 26 City Council meet ing, just after this year’s 11th homi cide and the third shooting in three weeks, Vice Mayor Sheneika Smith suggested that Council members help organize a violence-interrup tion program that would go “beyond the Public Safety Committee” and have “autonomy from, but alignment with, APD.” She suggested working with the city’s Office of Equity and Inclusion to come up with a plan.

Smith did not return requests for comment on any progress in setting up such a program, and city spokes person Kim Miller said that as of Nov. 4, there weren’t any new pro grams or initiatives on the docket.

But while there is no formal pro gram in place, Samantha Booth, the APD’s public information officer, says her department “continually meets with and receives feedback from the community. Over 100 commu nity meetings have been attended

Local groups tackle gun violence

gun violence. A tip line announced in December 2020 has been the most helpful, notes Silberman. TIP2APD enables anyone to submit information anonymously simply by downloading an app or sending text messages that go directly to detectives.

Despite the program’s success — Silberman says it regularly receives tips related to gun violence — infor mation alone won’t necessarily enable police to apprehend a suspect.

“We have to independently veri fy the information that we’ve been given,” notes Sgt. Josh Meindl, who heads the APD’s forensic services unit. “Anonymous tips can point us in that direction, but there’s a lot of legwork to do before we can translate that into a criminal charge.”

The department is hoping that a Ballistics IQ system purchased earlier this year will help speed things up, he says. Previously, police would submit shell casings found during investi gations to a crime lab in Henderson County that serves 50 counties across the state. It could take weeks and sometimes months for results to come back. With the new system, the APD will have data within minutes.

in the 2022 calendar year thus far. ... The Asheville Police Department approaches each of these meetings as an opportunity to learn what is most impacting that particular community. We are always open to learning more from our neighborhood leaders.”

Meanwhile, Marcus Kirkman of the Office of Equity and Inclusion released the following statement: “I am and our office is committed to improving our community and neighborhoods in every way that we can, up to and including reducing the amount of violence, specifically gun violence, and the many factors along with underlying social issues that contribute to these conditions.”

TIPS AND CASINGS

Silberman, however, says he’s reluctant to initiate further work with community groups.

“I’m not going to go on a cam paign or have my people go on any campaigns,” he told Xpress. “If we’re invited to a meeting, I would definite ly come or send representatives.”

In an effort to reduce gun vio lence and solve open homicide cases, Silberman continued, “We actively pursued [community groups and part nerships] for a number of years and put a lot of manpower and salaries and funding into that ... and I’m not able to cite an example of success.”

Instead, the APD has been pumping resources into internal efforts to curb

“It can tell us how many firearms are involved in the incident. It can tell us if it links to any other incidents that have been previously entered into the database. It can even tell us ... what types of firearms could have fired that shell casing. It gives us a lot of information very quickly.”

This year alone, the APD has recov ered over 600 shell casings. The sys tem also enables police to map where they were found. “It’s no big secret” that shots are often fired around pub lic housing communities, says Meindl.

NO MAGIC WAND

David Nash, executive director of the Asheville Housing Authority, says the APD used to have a dedicated housing team whose nine officers identified hot spots in public housing communities, worked directly with their managers and built relation ships with residents. Those efforts, he believes, made a difference. But over the past few years, as the department saw its staff shrink by 41%, the team slowly dwindled.

In October, Nash says he received a call saying the APD would no longer be assigning officers to the housing team. He got the impression that it could be years before the team was back at full or even reduced capacity.

“We should all be pushing to rebuild APD,” says Nash. “That can come with direction from city leadership to engage in more community policing, not just law enforcement: for police to be present, so relationships can be

STREET SAVVY: Jackie Latek, second from right, of the SPARC Foundation consults with street team members. Also pictured, from left, are Patricia Wa ters, Terrell Bailey, Tony Shivers, Layla, Keynon Lake and Daniel Young. Photo courtesy of the SPARC Foundation

built and dangerous activity that can lead to gun violence can be deterred.”

He believes that much of the vio lence in public housing developments comes from perpetrators who don’t live there and that residents aren’t tar geted so much as they’re caught in the crossfire. This, Nash maintains, stems from the city’s willingness to tolerate violence within those communities.

In other neighborhoods, he contin ues, people call, and the police respond, but in public housing, “Folks don’t have as much political power, or they feel intimidated, so they don’t call as often.” Silberman and Meindl agreed that witnesses are often hesitant to come forward for fear of retaliation.

In the midst of all this, the Housing Authority has tried several approach es to making those communities safer. Camera systems installed there are linked directly to the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, after-school learning pods at the Arthur Edington Education and Career Center are designed to “keep young people engaged and out of crime,” and the redevelopment of Lee Walker Heights (now known as Maple Crest) created housing that people can feel good about protecting and keeping up.

Although none of those efforts is a “magic wand” that could “end all crime,” Nash says he’s hopeful that future efforts supported by a federal grant the county recently received will have an impact.

MEETING RESIDENTS’ NEEDS

In September, Buncombe County was awarded a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to continue and expand violence-inter ruption work begun early in 2021. The new grant will enable the county to hire three community health work ers trained in violence prevention and a grants/program manager for the Buncombe County Community Safety Initiative. It will also allow three organizations already work ing on the problem — the SPARC Foundation, My Daddy Taught Me That and Resources for Resilience — to continue their efforts.

With the 2021 funding, the SPARC Foundation’s focus “was to address as many of the challenges of the indi viduals and families living in those communities as we could,” Executive Director Jackie Latek explains. The foundation and its partners organized

a street team that meets regularly with community members and comes up with programming to address their needs. Most of the team members grew up in the target communities, have been involved with the criminal justice system or have been in recov ery themselves.

Much of their work has involved things like helping older adults with grocery shopping or trips to phar macies, but the program has also organized social opportunities such as bingo games, dance parties, bas ketball games and children’s activities that give residents a chance to come together safely. The street team has been working in Maple Crest and the Pisgah View Apartments and recently began offering after-school programs at Klondyke, Maple Crest and Hillcrest.

In addition, Resources for Resilience has been leading regular listening circles at Hillcrest. In the hourlong groups facilitated by senior implemen tation specialist MC Ellis, residents can share their challenges and learn stress management techniques.

“When I’m jolted, when I don’t feel safe, part of my brain — my amygdala — sends an alarm bell and sends me into fight-or-flight or freeze response,” notes Ann DuPre Rogers, the non profit’s executive director. “So rather than my thinking brain — where I can problem-solve and be creative and connect and make good decisions — rational thought kind of goes out the window temporarily, and I go into survival mode. It’s fight-or-flight that, to me, is behind gun violence.”

With the additional funding, Resources for Resilience hopes to establish listening circles in more of the city’s public housing communities.

GET INVOLVED

Latek, however, emphasizes that it will take much more than a few small-scale initiatives to really put a significant dent in gun violence.

“Everybody loves to look to one group or entity to solve the gun vio lence that we’re experiencing, and what I’m starting to realize is that every single one of us in this com munity can be a part of solving this problem,” she says. “It’s landlords offering reasonable rental prices or taking Section 8 vouchers. It’s busi ness owners paying a living wage and being willing to hire people who need a second chance who might have criminal backgrounds. It’s the city staff ensuring that every community has access to parks and community centers. And it’s any individual in the community who can go volunteer. ... Everybody’s a piece of this.” X

“It’s going to be two years, and my son’s killer is still out there on the run.”

— former Asheville resident Javelin Duncan

NEXT OF KIN: Javelin Duncan, center, and others who have lost family mem bers to gun violence gathered in Pack Square Park on Sept. 17, hoping to form a support group and call attention to the number of homicides in Asheville.

Photo courtesy of Pearl Hampton

Tax tuning

Buncombe tries to fix its property tax appraisal system

BY MARK BARRETT

markbarrett@charter.net

Deciding the tax value of real estate, says Joe Minicozzi, is a lot like operating the sound board at a concert. And to his ears, Buncombe County is muddying up the mix.

Lots of information and adjust ments, a bit like the lights and knobs on a mixing console, go into figuring out what value the county assigns to a home — a number that in turn determines how much its owner will pay in property taxes. Minicozzi, the head of Asheville-based consulting firm Urban3, says Buncombe is assigning inaccurate, low values to more expensive homes and relative ly high values to modest ones.

“Which knob is causing distor tion?” he asks.

Does the system for appealing tax values, which often results in lower property appraisals, wrongly favor owners of expensive homes? Are expensive homes more likely to have taxable improvements that the county doesn’t know about? Is there something amiss in the way the county groups homes into neigh borhoods, or in how it assigns values to features such as heated square footage or number of bedrooms?

After more than a year of dis cussions and analysis, no one can answer those questions with cer tainty. The answer may be: all of the above.

An action plan county staff ers presented to the Board of Commissioners Oct. 18 implies that each of those factors and more may make assessments inaccurate. The plan includes steps to help owners of cheaper homes seek reductions if they think the county has valued their homes too highly, to get prop erty owners to report when they upgrade their homes and to refine some aspects of how Buncombe’s appraisers do their jobs.

“There’s not one button we can push” to get more accurate results, county Tax Assessor Keith Miller told commissioners Oct. 18, using language that echoed Minicozzi’s analogy. The plan calls for the county to spend an additional $844,000 over the current fiscal year and the next to improve the appraisal process.

HEAD: Buncombe County Tax Assessor Keith Miller will lead an $844,000 effort through the next fiscal year to improve the county’s tax appraisal process. Photo courte sy of Buncombe County

Minicozzi says Buncombe’s response since Urban3 first present ed its concerns to county officials in 2021, sparking an examination of appraisals, has amounted to “token gestures, empathetic statements and empty promises.” But while Minicozzi and another Urban3 ana lyst have been quick to criticize the county, several of the steps they offer to improve outcomes face legal, political or other obstacles.

Xpress looked at some of the changes to the appraisal process the county plans to make and others it has set aside.

BEHIND THE DOOR

Miller says one of the big challeng es facing Buncombe appraisers is not knowing the quality of a home’s interior. The county workers who use home sales, neighborhood rat ings, mathematical models and other tools to set tax values are responsible for an average of more than 10,000 properties each.

Touring a home’s basement to see if it has a wine cellar or mold creep ing up the walls is not part of the job description. Miller likes to remind people that, “99.9% of the homes in this county, I will never go inside of.”

But buyers do go inside, and their decisions set the market value of

a home. The level of maintenance, quality of fixtures and finishes vary widely from home to home while being mostly invisible from the out side. A house that’s nicer on the inside than would be expected from an outside view will probably get an appraisal lower than its mar ket value, and thus its owner may pay less than a fair share of taxes; a house that looks good from the street but has interior issues may be overvalued.

Property owners are legally obli gated to tell the tax assessor if they make significant improvements to their home, but many aren’t aware of that requirement (or never bother to follow it). The assessor’s office monitors building permits to catch things like the addition of an extra downstairs bedroom or a kitchen renovation, but not everyone gets a building permit either.

The county’s action plan includes steps to seek better information on the attributes of homes. For exam ple, all Buncombe property owners will receive a letter in December asking them to check the county’s information on their property. However, the county cannot force people to respond, says board Chair Brownie Newman

BRING THE HAMMER DOWN

Urban3 has urged the county to more aggressively levy financial pen alties against property owners who have upgraded their homes without telling the assessor’s office. Miller says the county is moving more quickly to update property values to reflect new features, but he did not include imposing more penalties in his plan to improve assessments.

Ori Baber , a data analyst at Urban3, says owners of high-end homes are more likely to make unde tected improvements than those who own inexpensive ones. That results in an inequitable tax break for wealthy property owners.

Many upgrades only come to light when a home is advertised for sale and an assessor compares its Multiple Listing Service description with the information used to deter mine its tax value. Miller says his office used to look for those discrep ancies only when properties sold but recently switched to examining MLS listings when they first appear.

State law sets out a process called discovery by which county asses sors are supposed to collect back taxes and penalties when they learn about upgrades. But Christopher Mclaughlin, an expert on property tax issues at the UNC School of Government, says it is not typical

FIGURE

SEEKING CLARITY: Joe Minicozzi, head of Asheville-based consulting firm Urban3, has been raising con cerns about Buncombe County’s tax assessment process since last April. Photo courtesy of Urban3

ly employed “unless there’s some thing egregious.”

The problem, Mclaughlin explains, is that the obligation to pay stays with the property after a sale; a county’s ability to make a previous owner pay is limited. The odds are good that the new owner will be the one who gets the bill, even though it was the previous owner who made the changes.

Asked whether that seems fair, Mclaughlin says, “I don’t have an answer for that.”

Miller rejects the idea of extra reappraisals, citing the $1.4 million cost for each one. Instead, he says the county needs to improve the quality of data it uses. Buncombe County’s plan includes provisions to do that, such as the purchase of a new computer program to check the accuracy of appraisals and a reexamination of the county’s neigh borhood ratings.

HELP ME OUT HERE

In November 2021, Anthony Williams stood before a county board. He asked plaintively, “I’d like to know how you come up with the numbers to value my house” in the West End/Clingman neighborhood near downtown Asheville.

The tax value of the small, one-bed room home Williams owns with his wife had jumped nearly $60,000 over four years to $271,500. “I just don’t think that’s fair,” he said.

Members of the Board of Equalization and Review, which hears appeals of tax valuations, explained that the burden is on the property owner to provide informa tion showing that a value is wrong. Saying he was “a little intimidated,” Williams did not offer comparable sales or other hard data to challenge the county’s figure. The board voted 3-1 to uphold that value.

DO IT AGAIN

Figures from Urban3 and University of Chicago professor Christopher Berry say the coun ty’s 2017 reappraisal was generally fairer to owners of both expensive and inexpensive homes than was its 2021 reappraisal. Those numbers have seen little attention amid crit icism of the 2021 effort. Baber with Urban3 says he’s not sure why the results shifted.

Urban3, as well as a citizens com mittee convened by the county to look at tax appraisal issues, has sug gested that Buncombe reappraise more often than its current schedule of every four years. Those groups argued a more frequent schedule would reduce the inequities that arise when the value of some homes increases more rapidly than others. But it’s unclear whether another reappraisal would produce results more like the 2017 reappraisal or the 2021 one, especially with other parts of the county’s plan yet to take effect.

Figures compiled by Urban3 say 6.5% of the owners of the most expen sive homes in Buncombe County appealed the tax value of their prop erty last year, while only 3.8% of owners of the least expensive homes did. Of those wealthiest homeown ers, 77% won their appeals, but only 47% of appeals brought by owners of modest homes were successful.

Mclaughlin says different appeal rates are common across the state and can make values less equitable across income groups. Dewayne McAfee, a member of the county’s ad hoc reappraisal committee, said during committee deliberations that low-income minority homeowners may feel “disenfranchised to the point that they don’t believe in any system” and are less likely to appeal.

Miller says it is inevitable that the county will get the value of some homes wrong, and he wants to make it easier for homeowners to bring appeals. The county plans to make data on home values more accessible online and enlist local Realtors to help people better understand the process. Whether that will be enough to end the imbalance in appeal rates remains to be seen. X

Healthy river, healthy economy

Chamber addresses water quality, development

BY JESSICA WAKEMAN

On heels of a 2021 study that showed the power of the French Broad River as an economic driver, the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce convened a panel to discuss the importance of keep ing that engine clean. The Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Policy On Tap event was held Nov. 17 at White Labs Kitchen & Tap.

A 2021 study of the economic impact of the French Broad watershed con ducted by Dr. Steve Ha of Western Carolina University showed that tens of thousands of jobs – from restaurant and lodging staff to rafting guides – rely on a river free from pollutants.

But river conservation has been an ongoing challenge. Previous genera tions had to combat industrial pollution flowing into the river. Today, pollution is caused by development, says Lisa Raleigh, RiverLink’s executive director, who led the panel discussion.

Panelist Anne Keller, RiverLink board chairperson and retired biolo gist with the Environmental Protection Agency, shared findings from the economic impact study. The average group visiting the French Broad River spent $1,276 per trip. In total, the river contributes $3.8 billion to the region. Additionally, over 38,000 jobs are sup ported by activity due to the river, the study found.

AN ‘IMPAIRED’ RIVER

Raleigh noted how conservationists like Karen Cragnolin focused on reme diating industrial pollution in the river, such as oil and diesel residue from cars in the junkyard where Karen Cragnolin Park now sits. (Cragnolin, who died in January, was the first executive director of RiverLink.)

Excess sediment, fecal matter from livestock farming and stormwater runoff are top pollutants nowadays, explained panelist Renee Fortner, RiverLink’s watershed resources manager. She noted how the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality recently added 19 miles of the French Broad River to a list of “impaired” waterways after testing found the fecal coliform bacte

ria exceeded the amount that is safe for swimming.

Fecal coliform bacteria binds to sedi ment within the river, Fortner explained, and this “sediment is widely considered to be the No. 1 pollutant in the French Broad River.” The excess sediment originates from eroding stream banks and soil erosion from construction sites, she said. But a silver lining to the river being designated as impaired is it opens up additional funding to address water quality, Fortner said.

Fortner also pointed out that “water quality in the river varies wildly” based on the weather, given the quantity of pollutants from rainwater. Sometimes the French Broad River is “crystal clear” and water quality — and recre ation possibilities — are good.

‘GREEN’ VS. ’GRAY’

Days that the French Broad River is crystal clear are the ones that Shelton Steele and Joe Balcken, co-owners of Wrong Way River Lodge & Cabins, are counting on. They outlined how they used sustainable techniques to devel op the Amboy Road property, which opened in the fall. (Wrong Way is locat ed on the property across the street from Karen Cragnolin Park, which abuts the river.)

Balcken said “nobody wanted to touch this property” on which Wrong Way sits due to the steep slopes. But he and his business partner found the RiverLink’s Wilma Dykeman RiverWay Plan, which maps out environmentally sound economic development along the French Broad River, to be “a blue print for us as businesses.” The city of Asheville’s Department of Development Services told the developers “this is what you have to adhere to,” Balcken explained. That was helpful because it allowed them to incorporate sus tainable building practices into their financial model, he said. (Regulations for development, including stormwater regulation, are laid out in Asheville’s unified development ordinance, or UDO, Fortner tells Xpress.)

Stormwater has been managed in the past with “gray” infrastructure, which refers to the pipes and gutters that funnel untreated, unfiltered water into the river, Fortner explains. “You can

imagine all the pollutants,” she said. “That’s why we’re promoting green infrastructure: keeping water on-site and giving it an opportunity to soak into the ground.”

Wrong Way campground installed an underground water catchment system, or drainage area, the size of an Olympic swimming pool, Shelton said. The catchment system, which sits on gravel beds underground, captures rainwater where it can seep into the soil rather than allowing it to run down the steep property onto Amboy Road and into the park and river. “A lot of our design was interpreting different challenges” posed by the hillside landscape, Shelton said.

The panel also addressed how local governments can ensure that business es developing along the French Broad River do so in an environmentally sound manner. Shelton said the duo worked “hand in hand with the city from the get-go.”

Keller said more elected officials need to be educated about protecting the water quality of the French Broad River, and its impact on area business es. Asheville has “so many priorities — we have to elevate this as a priority,” she said.

She said the city’s planning depart ment needs to talk about green devel opment in a different way because developers are not always educated about how to lessen the impact of their properties.

Shelton said he believes that cities need sustainable building regulations. But he also noted that as a developer, he knows building in the mountains is “complicated” and may require flexi bility. (Support for sustainable growth in Asheville is a component of the Municipal Climate Action Plan, which will be presented to City Council in 2023, according to the city’s Department of Sustainability website.)

The Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce’s members will be key to French Broad River conservation through sustainable development and business practices, and by using their community influence to advocate for conservation, she said. Residents and tourists alike would stop using the French Broad River if water quality worsened, which would have adverse impacts on area businesses, she said. “Take care of her and help her be healthy, or we’re going to lose her and we’re all going to be in a bad spot,” Keller said. X

SAFE TO DRINK? Fecal matter from livestock farming, stormwater runoff and ex cess sediment are the top pollutants in the French Broad River, says RiverLink wa tershed resources manager Renee Fortner. Photo courtesy of Conserving Carolina

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

WELLNESS

Dementia Partners Support Group AVL

Providing a social setting for individuals to meet and discuss coping techniques, share experiences, and present resource speakers from a variety of agencies.

TH (12/1), 6pm, Scenic View Terrace Clubhouse, 60 Fallen Spruce Dr

Old School Line Dancing Featuring instructor-led dances with video backup.

TH (12/1), 6:15pm, Ste phens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave Zumba Gold for Adults 50+

This free class helps work on mobility while moving to the beat to burn off calories. Every Wednesday and Friday.

WE (11/30 & 12/7); FR (12/2), 11am, Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center, 121 Shiloh Rd

Yoga in the Park Asheville Join together alongside the French Broad River for this all-level friendly yoga classes based on Hatha and Vinyasa traditions.

SA (12/3) & SU (12/4), 1:30pm, $10, Carrier Park, 220 Amboy Rd

Wild Souls Authentic Movement Class

A conscious movement experience in a 100-year old building with a com

munity of like-minded women at all life stages.

SU (12/4), 9:30am, Dunn’s Rock Community Center, 461 Connestee Rd, Brevard

Yoga Taco Mosa Led by Clare Desmelik. Donations accepted.

SU (12/4), 10:30am, The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave

Men’s Cancer Support Group

Safely meet in a large conference room and stay socially distant while wearing masks. Proof of covid vaccina tion or professional test results within 72 hours are also required. RSVP: Will at (412)913-0272 or acwein123@gmail.com.

WE (12/7), 6pm, Woodfin YMCA, 40 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 101

Women’s December Full Moon Sacred Sound Immersion An evening featuring a guided sound journey of Tibetan and crystal bowls and other sacred instruments. Women only (no children). Registration required by Monday, Dec.5, by email: magic@creative divinestudios.com, or by text: (828)290-9656.

WE (12/7), 6:15pm, Henderson County Ath letics and Activity Cen ter, 708 South Grove St, Hendersonville

ART Day With(out) Art

In observance of World AIDS Day. See p25

TH (12/1), 11am-9pm

Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Jazz '22 Story Walk

This exhibit of informa tional panels about NC jazz greats is designed to share the history of jazz. Open daily 7:30am. Stearns Park, 122 E Mills St, Columbus

Explorations in Heritage & Nature: Paintings by Lelia Canter

A unique and colorful collection of over 25 years of work that illustrate Cherokee, Celtic, Appalachian, and various cultural legends. Meet the artist and exhibit sale Dec.

15, 4-6pm. Open 8am, closed Sunday.

Zuma Coffee, 7 N. Main St, Marshall

Place and Wonder

Featuring five American artists whose works explore the things we know and cannot entire ly know about a place - real, imagined, or remembered - accessing humor, amazement, mood, and narrative to poetic representations of landscape and direct observation. Exhibit through Jan. 8, 2023.

Gallery open 10am (11am Sunday), closed Monday.

Tyger Tyger Gallery, 191 Lyman St, Ste 144

Natural Collector | Gifts of Fleur S. Bresler

Features around 15 artworks from the collection, which include important examples of modern and contem porary American craft including wood and

fiber art, as well as glass and ceramics. Open 11am, closed Tuesday. Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Woodturning: Live Demo

Thomas Irvin will be demonstrating how he turns wood on a lathe, creating sculptural pieces. Dec. 1-4, 10am. Folk Art Center, MP 382, Blue Ridge Parkway

BFA Portfolio Exhibtion Reception

This exhibition highlights the work of undergraduate students from WCU's School of Art and Design.

TH (12/1), 5pm, WCU Bardo Arts Center, 199 Centennial Dr, Cullowhee

First Fridays at Downtown Asheville Arts District

A variety of open galleries and studios, plus light refreshments. FR (12/2), 5pm, Downtown Asheville Rebel/Re-Belle: Explor ing Gender, Agency, and Identity Combines works, primarily created by women, from two significant collections of contemporary art to explore how artists have innovated, influenced, interrogated, and inspired visual culture in the past 100 years. Through Jan. 16, 2023. Open 11am, closed Tuesdays.

Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Winter Magic

Annual group exhibition with over 20 local artists participating, with an opening reception Friday, Dec. 2 from 5-8pm. Gallery open

daily 11am. Exhibit through Jan. 31. Asheville Gallery of Art, 82 Patton Ave

Brooms: Live Demo Peter Werner will be demonstrating the traditional craft of broom-tying in the lobby. Dec. 1-4, 10am. Folk Art Center, MP 382, Blue Ridge Parkway

Needle Felting: Live Demo Lorraine Cathey will be demonstrating how she “paints” landscapes with colored wool and a felting needle. Dec. 5&6, 10am. Folk Art Center, MP 382, Blue Ridge Parkway

North Carolina Works by Martin Pasco Paintings from Barnards ville-based artist. Open daily 11am. Asheville Gallery of Art, 82 Patton Ave

Psychedelic Country: A Local Artist Showcase Opening reception with instrumental electric live space music by Spiro of The Paper Crowns Band. The show remains open daily at noon through Jan. 22.

TH (12/8), 6:30pm, Push Skate Shop & Gallery, 25 Patton Ave

COMMUNITY MUSIC

Rings and Rhythms of the Season: Handbell Concert

Performed by the Blue Ridge Ringers, a non-profit tax exempt performing arts organization dedicated to the art of handbell ringing, established in Hendersonville in 1995.

FR (12/2), 2pm, Hender sonville Public Library, 301 N Washington St, Hendersonville

Experience Joy: A Musical Celebration of Christmas

The concert will feature the Montreat College Choir and Orchestra, made up of Montreat students and community members. As a gift to thank the community, admission to the concert is free of charge.

FR (12/2), 7pm, Montreat College, 310 Gaither Circle, Montreat

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The annual holiday concert.

SA (12/3), 3pm & 7:30pm, Blue Ridge Community College Conference Hall, 49 E Campus Dr, Flat Rock

BRO Revels! 2022: Hansel & Gretel

The Blue Ridge Orches tra's program celebrates Engelbert Humper dinck’s fairy tale opera with UNC Greensboro’s Opera Theatre, under the direction of David Holley.

SU (12/4), 3pm, Lipinsky Auditorium at UNCA, 300 Library Ln

Friends of Music: Kate Steinbeck

The flutist, artistic direc tor of PAN HARMONIA, will perform with collab orative pianist Dewitt Tipton. Contributions accepted.

SU (12/4), 4pm, The Episcopal Church of Saint John in the Wilder ness, 1905 Greenville Hwy, Flat Rock

Messiah an Oratorio by George Frederick Handel

The holiday classic performed by a com munity chorus and local soloists.

SU (12/4), 4pm, First Baptist Church of Weaverville, 63 N. Main St, Weaverville

Italian Night w/Mike Guggino & Barrett

Smith (world)

Members of the Grammy award-winning band Steep Canyon Rangers.

TH (12/8), 7:30pm, Bre vard Music Center, 349 Andante Ln, Brevard

LITERARY

A Slice of Life: A Telling of Stories

Join nationally celebrat ed storyteller Connie Regan-Blake as she wel comes her storytelling students to the stage, with a lineup of tellers including Mike Perry from Pennsylvania, Andy Russell and Janel Behm, both from Florida, Pepper Ellis-Hagebak of Georgia, plus Steve Tate, Naomi Faw and Christine Phillips Westfeldt from North Carolina.

SA (12/3), 7pm, Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 225 W State St, Black Mountain

Dark Poets Society open to writers of all experience levels who are looking for feedback on their poetry.

TU (12/6), 6:30pm, Black Mountain Library, 105 N Dougherty St, Black Mountain Storytelling on the Mountain Share or listen to a five minute true life story.

If you are interested in being a storyteller, email Jim at jamesrlud wig@gmail.com.

WE (12/7), 5:30pm, Homeplace Beer Co., 6 South Main St, Burnsville

Forgetting the Former Things

Tamara Puffer, who suffered brain injury in a serious car accident in 1996, talks about her memoir Forgetting the Former Things: Brain Injury's Invitation to Vulnerability and Faith TH (12/8), 7pm, West Asheville Branch Library, 942 Haywood Rd

THEATER & FILM

A Charlie Brown Christmas Adapted from Charles M. Schulz’s timeless story and featuring the music of Vince Guaraldi. Various times through Dec. 4. Flat Rock Playhouse, 2661 Hwy 225, Flat Rock

Elf the Musical

A theatrical production of the modern classic, with a hot chocolate and cider bar and photo booth in the lobby. Various dates and times through Dec. 18. Asheville Community Theatre, 35 E Walnut St

Be Here Now

An unexpected romantic comedy about Bari, an angry, depressed misan thrope who lost her job teaching nihilism in New York to work at the local fulfillment center in her rural hometown. Mature language and content. Various dates and times through Dec. 11. NC Stage Co., 15 Stage Ln

Caroling by Gaslight

A dark comedic retelling of the Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. Contains explicit sexual content, language, and dialogue. Through Dec. 17, with performances at 7:30pm on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and at 4:00pm on Sundays.

The Magnetic Theatre, 375 Depot St

Live From WVL Radio Theater: It’s A Wonderful Life Four actors, original organ music, and live sound effects breathe new life into this beloved story, set and performed “live on the air.”

SU (12/4), 7:30pm, Isis Music Hall & Kitchen 743, 743 Haywood Rd

Silent Night Deadly Night Pt. 2 With free popcorn. WE (12/7), 8pm, The Odd, 1045 Haywood Rd

Chunky Shrapnel: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Movie Premiere

A feature-length live music documentary from King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. WE (12/7), 8pm, Grail Moviehouse, 17 Foundy St

MEETINGS & PROGRAMS

Mammalogy An educator from the NC Arboretum EcoExplore Program will bring a variety of animal artifacts and fun mammal-related activities. For school age kids.

WE (11/30), 4pm, Leicester Library, 1561 Alexander Rd, Leicester

BAH, HUMBUG: Caroling by Gaslight, a dark comedic inter pretation of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, will open at The Magnetic Theatre on Friday, Dec. 2, at 7:30 p.m. The production, which is recommended for audiences ages 18 and up due to mature content, will be performed Thurs days-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. through Dec. 17. Photo courtesy of The Magnetic Theatre

by Kristin Nicholas of Leyden Glen Farm

Changing

Feathers, Changing Seasons, Changing Climate

Simon Thompson, an international expert on birding, will compare the behaviors of birds that spend the colder months around Western North Carolina with birds that are now spending the winter further north due to increasingly warmer temps.

TH (12/1), 7pm, avl.mx/977

Introduction to Medi care: Understanding the Puzzle

How Medicare works, the enrollment process, how to avoid penalties, and ways to save money. To register, visit coabc.org or call the Council on Aging at (828)277-8288.

FR (12/2), 2pm, Goodwill Career Training Center, 1616 Patton Ave

NC Bird Atlas Walk

Birders of all levels invited. By Blue Ridge Audubon Chapter. Visit avl.mx/c7b

SU (12/4), 8am, Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary parking lot, 1056 Merrimon Ave

Scrabble Club

All gear provided, just bring your vocabulary. Every Sunday.

SU (12/4), 12:15pm, Stephens Lee Recre ation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave

Music To Your Ears: Bill Kopp & Jake Wolf

Discuss Steely Dan album Can’t Buy a Thrill Join host Bill Kopp and special guest Jake Wolf of Steely Dan tribute band Dirty Logic as they’ll chat about the background, creation and legacy of the album, and listen to some key tracks that demonstrate the innovation and creativity of Steely Dan. See p25

WE (12/7), 7pm, Asheville Guitar Bar, 122 Riverside Dr

LOCAL MARKETS

YMCA Mobile Market

Bring your grocery bags and get fresh food for your family. Distribu tions are free and all community members are welcome.

WE (11/30), 12pm, Enka-Candler Library, 1404 Sandhill Rd, Candler

RAD Farmers Market Winter Season

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

Greenway.

WE (11/30, 12/7), 3pm, Smoky Park Supper Club, 350 Riverside Dr

North Asheville Tailgate Market

The oldest Saturday morning market in WNC. Over 60 rotating vendors.

SA (12/3), 8am, , 3300 University Heights, Asheville City Market

Over 50 vendors and local food products, including fresh produce, meat, cheese, bread, pastries, and more.

SA (12/3), 9am, 52 N Market St

FESTIVALS & SPECIAL EVENTS

MAGMA Land of the Sky: Christmas Gem Show

Vendors offering rocks, gems, minerals, fossils, artifacts, gold, silver, handmade jewelry, moldavite, trinitite, geodes, agates, fossil wood and all sorts of other treasures.

FR (12/2) - SU (12/4), 9am, Land of Sky Shrine Club, 39 Spring Cove Rd, Swannanoa

Anime Costume Party Come dressed as your favorite character or wear your favorite anime tee for this event with several activities such as Naruto run races, foam sword fight matches, trivia, and different mini animethemed games and arts and crafts. All ages.

FR (12/2), 3pm, Dr Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St

Catalytic Sound Festival Featuring artists who are a part of the innovative Catalytic Sound co-operative, an initiative formed in 2015 to help create a more sustainable working environment for its pool of experimental and innovative musicians across the globe.

FR (12/2) & SA (12/3), Static Age Records, 110 N Lexington Ave

BENEFITS & VOLUNTEERING

Wine with Divine: a fundraiser for Healing Solutions Counseling

An intimate cabaret show with torytelling, live singing, chit-chat, interviews, and more. All profits support Healing Solutions Coun seling 501c3 with JFS. Produced by Asheville Drag Brunch.

FR (12/2), 5pm, plēb urban winery, 289 Lyman St

Open House to benefit Ukraine Artist Brigitte Knauf will sell her work. See p24-25

SU (12/4), 2pm, 30 Hibriten Dr

HOLIDAY EVENTS

Deck the Trees

With more than 20 participating businesses, an annual fundraiser for Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry. See p24

Various locations, Black Mountain

Eleventh Annual Ingles Magical Christmas Toy Drive

Accepting new, unwrapped toys, books, clothing, and gift cards, as well as monetary donations. Drive through Dec. 1 5-7pm, Dec. 2 7am-7pm, Dec. 3 8am-noon.

Ingles, 151 Smokey Park Hwy

Tryon Resort Holiday Ice Skating

Enjoy ice skating, see festive light displays, eat, and shop. With skate rentals available by the hour, various times through Feb. 14, 2023. Visit avl.mx/c73

Tryon International Equestrian Center, 25 International Blvd, Mill Spring

Santa Paws

Santa will be taking pictures with pets, kids, families, friends, and anyone interested, in order to raise money for the pets in need in Buncombe County. Presented by Asheville Humane Society and Four Seasons Plumbing.

WE (11/30), 5pm, Whistle Hop Brewing Co., 1288 Charlotte Hwy, Fairview SA (12/3), 3pm, Ginger’s Revenge, 829 Riverside Dr, Ste 100 WE (12/7), 5pm, TreeRock Social Cider House, 760 Biltmore Ave

Tryon Drive-Thru Christmas Light Show

Featuring a two-mile display that dances along to the music in your car. Open nightly 6-10pm through Jan. 1, tickets sold per vehicle.

Tryon International Equestrian Center, 25 International Blvd, Mill Spring

Indigenous Holiday Pop-Up Markets

A series of art markets featuring handmade and unique items from Cherokee artists. Each week features a new lineup of vendors.

FR (12/2), 10am, Muse um of the Cherokee Indian, 589 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee

Candlelight Christmas Tours

Visitors will take part in a guided tour of the decorated 1880 farm house, visit with the heritage weavers and fiber artists, listen to live music by local students, and partake in hot cocoa and cookies.

FR (12/2) & SA (12/3), 5pm, Historic Johnson Farm, 3346 Haywood Rd, Hendersonville

Winterfest Village

With live performances, concessions, shopping, dining, carousel rides, visits with Santa, and a closing parade each evening. Thursday through Sunday starting Dec. 1, through Dec. 31. Tryon International Equestrian Center, 25 International Blvd, Mill Spring

Starry Nights in Firefly Field

Annual tree lighting with live holiday music from Blaine and Christina Russell and a visit from Santa himself.

FR (12/2), 5:30pm, Blue Ghost Brewing Compa ny, 125 Underwood Rd, Fletcher

Holidays Around the World Games, crafts, and special activities that explore holidays around the world. Light dinner is included with registration. Grades K-8. Call 828-350-2058 for registration and more information.

FR (12/2), 6pm, Ste phens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave

Bold Rock Tree Lighting Ceremony

With a visit from Appa lachian Santa, cookies, hot cocoa, and Santa's Workshop for kids.

FR (12/2), 6pm, Bold Rock Mills River, 72 School House Rd, Mills River

The Big Crafty Hand to Heart Holiday

A celebration of creative ventures.

SA (12/3) & SU (124), 12pm, Harrah’s Chero kee Center - Asheville

7th Annual Holiday Craft Bazaar

Twenty five local vendors on both floors.

SA (12/3), 8am, Asheville Music Hall, 31 Patton Ave

Bullington Gardens Holiday Craft & Greenery Sale

A wide variety of locally-grown holiday plants including cyclamen, amaryllis and poinsettia. Wreaths and swags enhanced with botanicals gathered on the grounds and created by volunteers are also available.

SA (12/3), 9am, Bullington Gardens, 95 Upper Red Oak Trail, Hendersonville

The 95th Annual Holiday Greens Market

A historic event present ed by the French Broad River Garden Club.

SA (12/3), 9am, Clem's Cabin, 1000 Henderson ville Rd

Photos with The Grinch Donate a new, unwrapped toy to Western North Carolina Toys for Tots and take a

selfie with the classic Dr Seuss character. In the food court.

SA (12/3), 10am, Asheville Outlets, 800 Brevard Rd

The Nutcracker at the Library

Featuring the Ballet Conservatory of Asheville, this special and festive presentation will include dance performances and demonstrations, The Nutcracker readings, an opportunity to dance with the Sugar Plum Fairy and sweet treats. All are welcome.

SA (12/3), 10:30am, Pack Memorial Library - Lord Auditorium, 67 Haywood St

Appalachian Farmers & Artisan Holiday Market

Over 35 local and regional vendors offering handmade items, with be a silent auction, live music, hot cocoa and the Burnsville holiday parade at 1pm. SA (12/3), 12pm, Home place Beer Co., 6 South Main St, Burnsville Burnsville Christmas Parade: The Island of Misfit Toys A classic hometown holiday tradition, from the grand marshal and family floats to Santa

and fire trucks.

SA (12/3), 1pm, Burns ville Town Square, 100 Town Square, Burnsville Asheville Santacon Wear any holi day-themed costume. Rain or shine.

SA (12/3), 4pm, Pack Square, Downtown Asheville

Black Mountain Christmas Parade & Circle of Lights Floats, music, candy and Santa; with lights at Lake Tomahawk.

SA (12/3), 4pm, Down town Black Mountain, 125 Cherry St, Black Mountain

Breakfast with Santa at Tryon Resort With opportunities to interact with Santa himself while enjoying a kid-friendly buffet of breakfast favorites. Reservations required.

SA (12/3), 8am, Tryon International Equestrian Center, 25 International Blvd, Mill Spring Hendersonville Christ mas Parade Parade route stretches from 5 Points to the southern end of Main Street at the Caswell Street intersection. Theme is ‘Christmas Lights.’

SA (12/3), 6pm, Down town Hendersonville

Blue Ridge Roller Derby's "Holiday Fight Show"

With festive cheer and a raffle. BYOB.

SU (12/4), 12pm, Smoky Mountain Event Center, 758 Crabtree Rd, Waynesville

The 2nd Annual Holiday Bazaar

Over 30 vendors with crafts, art and unique vintage finds. In part nership with BeLoved Asheville - donations of non-perishable food items, lightly used coats and blankets, and new toys will be accepted.

SU (12/4), 12pm, Salvage Station, 468 Riverside Dr

Winter Lights

An open-air, walkthrough light show in the gardens, featuring live performances, a model train, educational exhibits and food and beverages available for purchase. The Arboretum's largest annual fundraiser. Visit ncarboretum.org for more info on tickets and pricing. Nightly through Dec. 30.

NC Arboretum, 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way

Where Did the Ginger bread Man Go?

The gingerbread man has run away and we

need your help to find him. Play games to find clues, make gingerbread cookies and other surprises. Toddlers 3-5 years, with parent or guardian. Pre-registra tion recommended. For more information, call (828)350-2058.

TU (12/6), 9am, Ste phens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave

Song of the Soup : a mindful eating food blessing soup and song circle

A mindful eating ritual of singing food blessing songs, partaking in a bowl of nourishing soup and eating mindfully. WE (12/7), 6pm, Weaving Rainbows, 62 Wall St

Christmas Tours at Historic Johnson Farm Take a guided or self-guided tour of the historic farm. Various dates and times through Dec. 16.

Historic Johnson Farm, 3346 Haywood Rd, Hendersonville

Lake Julian Festival of Lights

Watch the lights twinkle over the lake while you drive through. Nightly Dec. 2-23. Lake Julian Park, 37 Lake Julian Rd, Arden

AdventHealth has been approved to build a new hospital in Western North Carolina, the company announced on Facebook Nov. 22.

Buncombe, Graham, Madison and Yancey counties will together have a projected need of 67 additional acute care beds by 2024, according to a plan published by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Division of Health Service Regulation.

In North Carolina, as in 34 other states, health systems must obtain a “certificate of need” from the gov ernment before building facilities to provide more health care beds in a community. During the summer, three hospital systems — Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corp., which owns AdventHealth, Mission Health/HCA Healthcare and Novant Health — each filed certificate of need applications explaining their proposals to build a new hospital. The NCDHHS held a public comment session about the certificate of need applications Aug. 12.

Adventist proposed to develop a new acute care hospital in Candler called AdventHealth Asheville. The application proposed 67 acute care beds, a C-section operating room and five procedure rooms. The project is expected to cost $254.1 million and would be completed in January 2025.

“We want to thank the people of Western North Carolina who shared

their overwhelming support for our proposal to build this new community hospital,” AdventHealth’s post said. “Earning your trust is something we do not take lightly, and we will contin ue to build this trust as we move to the next steps of this project.”

Spokesperson Victoria Dunkle was unable to be reached for comment.

County health director leaves position

Buncombe County Public Health Director Stacie Saunders is leaving her position at the Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services on Dec. 31. She has been with BCDHHS since 2020 and managed the county’s COVID-19 response.

Saunders is joining the N.C. Health and Human Services Division of Public Health as deputy director and section chief for local and community support. In her new role, she will work with local health departments across the state.

“This is an exciting time for me but also one filled with sadness as it is very hard to leave this public health staff, who have become very special to me,” Saunders says in a press release announcing her departure. “I consider those of us in public health a family.”

BCDHHS will post updates on hir ing her successor.

Vets eligible for toxic exposure screenings

Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers nationwide are offer ing toxic exposure screenings to vet erans enrolled in VA health care.

The screening will ask veterans if they believe they were exposed to toxic substances during service, according to a VA press release. Those who answer “yes” will be questioned about specific exposures like Agent Orange, Camp Lejeune contaminat ed water exposure, Gulf War-related exposures, air pollutants like burn-pit smoke and radiation. Following the screening, eligible veterans will be connected to clinical resources.

For more information about toxic exposures, visit publichealth.va.gov/ exposures. To make an appointment at the Charles George Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Asheville, call 828-298-7911.

Free COVID-19 tests

A U.S. Postal Service pilot program is distributing free COVID-19 tests to residents in three WNC zip codes through Jan. 15. Residents in ZIP codes that begin with 287, 288 and 289

can order free, self-swab PCR tests from ineedacovid19test.com.

The initiative is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Increasing Community Access to Testing program. It aims to increase access to COVID-19 testing in high-risk communities and among the uninsured.

Pisgah helps with open enrollment

Pisgah Legal Services, a nonprof it that provides legal services, and Mountain Projects, is partnering to provide free assistance to people enrolling in plans through the health care marketplace.

Certified navigators can help cli ents understand health care plan options on Healthcare.gov and select the best plan for their needs.

An open enrollment event will be held 12:30-5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 7, at Haywood County Public Library (main branch), 678 S. Haywood St., Waynesville. A second session will be from noon-6 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 10, at the Carpenter Community Building, 1288 Georgia Road, Franklin.

Walk-ins are welcome. Clients also can schedule an appointment online at pisgahlegal.org/health care, call Pisgah Legal at 828-2103404 or call Mountain Projects at 828-452-1447. X

IT’S DECIDED: AdventHealth announced on Nov. 22 that it will build a new acute care hospital in the Asheville area. Photo courtesy of AdventHealth

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas (Jam)

The holiday show returns after three-year hiatus

BY BILL KOPP

bill@musoscribe.com

A 30-year streak ended when the annual Warren Haynes Presents Christmas Jam was canceled in 2019.

“It was becoming harder and harder to make it happen, and it just seemed like the right time to take a pause,” says the concert’s founder and name sake, Warren Haynes

The original hiatus, Haynes contin ues, wasn’t intended to go beyond 2019. But the COVID-19 pandemic prevent ed the Christmas Jam from returning over the subsequent two years.

But now the wildly popular event (advance tickets sold out in minutes) returns to Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville. This year’s Saturday, Dec. 10, lineup includes Phil Lesh & Friends, Tyler Childers, Gov’t Mule, Brothers Osborne, Dinosaur Jr. and more.

To celebrate, Xpress caught up with Haynes about the show’s history, as well as his own musical journey.

AT 45 CHERRY

In 1988, the inaugural event — ini tially billed as The Christmas Jam: Musician’s X-Mas Reunion — came about more by chance than design. At the time, Haynes’ career was in its early ascent. He had already spent four years as a guitarist for outlaw country star David Allen Coe, then moved on to work with the Nighthawks before landing with former Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts.

It was during a break between tour dates with Betts that Haynes returned

home to Asheville. While in town, he decided to organize the get-together.

“It began in a small club, 45 Cherry,” Haynes recalls. (Today, the venue’s former site is a parking lot just north of the Asheville Skatepark.)

The concert, Haynes continues, was an opportunity for Asheville-based musicians to get together during a time of the year when most were off the road. Haynes doesn’t recall what they set the ticket price for during the inaugural event, but he’s confident it was cheap.

“Probably $6 or something,” he says with a laugh.

By his recollection, the charitable nature of the Christmas Jam came about by default. “We weren’t making very much money, and there were too

many musicians to pay,” he explains. “Instead of everybody taking $11 … we were like, ‘Nah, let’s just give it to charity.’”

Childhood friend, former bandmate and fellow guitarist Mike Barnes remembers it differently. “The very first Christmas Jam was to benefit Ronnie Burgin,” he says. The local blues/rock musician was a longtime friend of both Barnes and Haynes.

Proceeds from the fundraiser, Barnes continues, went toward “try[ing] to get [Burgin] in rehab to stop drinking, because he was in pret ty bad shape.” The fundraising part of that goal, at least, was a success. (Sadly, Burgin died a few years later in 1993.)

But a precedent had been estab lished. “We thought, ‘Let’s do it again next year,’” Haynes recalls. “And that next year was even bigger. Then it gradually turned into something even beyond that.”

FAMOUS FRIENDS

By the late ’90s, Haynes was a star. He had spent a decade as a guitarist with the Allman Brothers Band and concurrently launched his own group, Gov’t Mule. His profile and status in the music community meant that he could call upon additional famous friends to take part in his annual char itable endeavor benefiting Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity.

Along the way, the Christmas Jam relocated to the former venue Be Here Now. Not much larger than 45 Cherry, the space soon proved inadequate for the burgeoning event. The Thomas Wolfe Auditorium hosted it next. But by 2001, the Christmas Jam headed next door to the former Asheville Civic Center (known today as the Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville).

As its popularity grew, so too did the concert’s range of performers. While in its early days, the Christmas Jam focused on Southern rock, today the gathering has a more eclectic lineup.

“On some level,” Haynes admits, “I choose music that I like.”

But in practice, that can mean near ly anything from “rock to blues to bluegrass to jazz to country to soul,” he continues. “It can really go any where, as long as it’s integrity-orient ed music.”

Some of the most celebrated acts to take part have included Widespread Panic, Hot Tuna, Steve Miller Band, Los Lobos and Counting Crows, among others.

And surprises often factor into the event. Locals will likely remember 2018, when Dave Grohl and Friends added an impromptu set at The Orange Peel.

PAUSE, THEN PLAY

The music came to a halt, however, in 2019.

“In my own view, I needed to step away after 30 years and rethink it,” Haynes says.

The announcement came in mid-No vember of that year. The press release promised that the all-star event would return come 2020. But like everyone’s plans, Haynes had to pivot on account of COVID-19. And though hopes were high for a return in 2021, the pandemic shuttered it once again.

“We were having conference calls, and the consensus was, ‘We can’t put on a charity show that might get peo ple sick,’” Haynes says. “Even though people were more confident than they were a year before, we couldn’t do it.”

Haynes remained busy with sev eral other projects during his time away from planning the annual event. His band Gov’t Mule released its 12th

Jimmy Herring, Edwin McCain, Bruce Hampton and Derek Trucks were just a few of the marquee names who graced the Christmas Jam stage in those years.

KEEP ON ROCKING: Warren Haynes joined the Tedeschi Trucks Band onstage at the 2015 Christmas Jam. Similar collaborations are expected at this year’s event. Pictured, from left, are Derek Trucks, Haynes and Susan Tedeschi. Photo by Audrey Hermon Kopp

studio album, Heavy Load Blues, in November 2021. That same year, he also lent his guitar and songwriting skills to Blackberry Smoke’s album You Hear Georgia, and earlier this year he was featured on Brother Johnny, a tribute album by Edgar Winter honoring his late brother, guitarist Johnny Winter.

And as Haynes told Relix Magazine in July 2020, “I have been writing more than I’ve written probably since 1987; that’s one of the few upsides to this whole [pandemic] thing.”

’YOU NEVER KNOW’

But time away from the Christmas Jam also allowed Haynes the oppor tunity for a reset. The annual event had been getting bigger and bigger — the 2018 performance swelled to two nights. By that point, the logistics threatened to turn a fun event into a chore for planners, all of whom (like the musicians involved) were donating their time.

So as circumstances allowed the Christmas Jam’s 2022 return, Haynes had a list of goals he hoped to realize. “One of the things we talked about was having fewer acts and letting the bands play longer,” he says. “And to a certain extent, I think that’s going to happen.”

Still, logistical concerns put restric tions on how long those instrumental improvisations can go. “As fun as it was to have the whole folklore of, ‘The show goes until three or four in the morning,’ that’s just not the right thing

to do,” Haynes says. “Half the crowd misses the show when you do that.”

He says that this year’s extravagan za is set to end at 1 a.m.

But when it comes to the Christmas Jam, nothing is truly set in stone.

“Things happen at the last minute, you know?” Haynes says with a smile.

“There are still some acts saying, ‘We might be there.’ So, you never know.”

BACK AT IT

In addition to the top-billed acts, this year’s Christmas Jam special guests include Hiss Golden Messenger, Audley Freed, Scott Metzger, Katie Jacoby and more. Additionally, there will be performers that Haynes calls “floaters,” including Barnes.

“I never know what I’ll do,” Barnes says with a laugh. “Sometimes it’s a last-minute thing: ‘Hey Barnes, you’re going to get [onstage] with so-and-so.’ But it’s always fun.”

And the fun, Haynes emphasizes, will remain in Asheville, despite occa sional talk about taking the annual event outside WNC.

“People have brought it up,” he says. “They’ll say, ‘What if you took it to another city? You could make so much more money!’”

But Haynes swats down the sugges tion with a simple response. “Asheville’s my hometown, you know?”

And after a longer-than-planned hiatus, Haynes says he’s happy to see the Christmas Jam return. “I can’t believe it took this long,” he marvels. “But I’m excited to be back.” X

George Bernard Shaw

BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN

Since 2018, 7 Clans Brewing has been on the move. Initially based in Canton, the operations relocated to Waynesville in 2020. And while brewing will continue at Frog Level Brewing Co., owners Morgan OwleCrisp and her husband, Travis Crisp, opened an Asheville-based taproom this summer at 66 Sweeten Creek Road. The location is just up the street from Hillman Beer’s flag ship spot and Catawba Brewing Co.’s Biltmore Village location.

“It’s one single room — just supere asy,” Owle-Crisp says. “I didn’t have to worry about food or a kitchen or any of those things. It just made it really simple.”

The small space also makes 7 Clans one of the few local taprooms without TVs, trivia nights or live music. A

rotating lineup of food trucks offers customers nourishment, but the tap room’s focus is firmly on the beer and community atmosphere.

“You can come anytime, and it’s going to be quiet and an easy, chill place,” Owle-Crisp says. “People like it for that reason.”

COLLABORATIVE SPIRIT

Since forming, 7 Clans has canned its three flagship beers — Blonde Ale, Hop-Rooted IPA and Bended Tree Chestnut Brown — and offered modest draft distribution. But with the addition of the taproom, more beers have joined the rotation, including a milk stout, persimmon sour, strawberry saison and a double IPA clocking in at over 10% ABV.

Being part of the Asheville craft beverage community has addition ally led to collaborations with a pair

of long-tenured local peers. Though Owle-Crisp describes herself as fore most a mom and “the new kid on the block,” she was pleasantly sur prised when Wicked Weed Brewing contacted her and proposed work ing together.

This past summer, the brewer ies released Wherever We Are Hazy IPA, crafted with beets, honey and muscadine grapes. And on Nov. 17, they tapped We’re Still Here Harvest Saison, made with honeynut squash from Darnell Farms in Bryson City, stone-ground cornmeal from Saunooke’s Mill in Cherokee and organic sassafras.

“We’ve had a really great friend ship with Wicked Weed, and I think their brewers had a fun time with us, using some of our indigenous ingredients,” Owle-Crisp says.

ADVOCATING FOR INDIGENOUS RIGHTS

In March, the brewery also collab orated with Highland Brewing Co. to create The Queen’s Saison, in honor of International Women’s Day. The collaboration gave Owle-Crisp, who is a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, an opportunity to spend time with Highland President Leah Wong Ashburn, a woman with whom she has much in common.

“She’s a tremendous role model and businessperson,” Owle-Crisp says. “Just getting to sit down with her for a little bit and pick her brain — especially about being a minority

in the business, and this culture of people thinking what you should be like as a minority and it not always lining up with who you are — that was an interesting perspective.”

Furthermore, all of the extra exposure means a bigger platform for one of 7 Clans’ founding prin ciples: advocating for Indigenous rights and sharing the history of the Cherokee people.

“I’ve always wanted to let people know that we’re still here and that there’s some kind of educational component to what we do,” she says. “I’ve always tried to do that kind of quietly through storytelling and sharing culture in that way. Just very low-key: If you’re interested, there’s more to learn.”

STILL ON THE MOVE

Far from slowing down, 7 Clan’s ownership team is exploring other opportunities, particularly in Tennessee. The brewery has been steadily increasing its production, and the time is nearing when another big decision will have to be made.

“We’ve bought new tanks and we’re getting where we’re maxed out,” Owle-Crisp says. “We have a few more things that we can do, so we’re really evaluating what it’s going to look like next year and what we need to do to continue to increase production — which is a great thing. I’m glad to be in this position rather than the opposite.”

To learn more, visit avl.mx/c6s. X

GOT A HANDLE ON IT: 7 Clans Brewing co-owner and Eastern Band of Cher okee Indians member Morgan Owle-Crisp pours a beer at the brewery’s new Biltmore Village taproom. Photo by Jessica Overby

Patient pursuit

BY LUKE ROLAND

For over 40 years, Asheville native Chris Abell has been crafting flutes and whistles for musicians all over the world. His experience building these instruments, he says, has disciplined and trained his eye to see small and unique details.

Such skills, he continues, have ben efited his other passion: photography. Behind the lens, Abell’s sharp eye scans for the extraordinary. “If I look through the viewfinder and it looks familiar, I don’t push the shutter but ton,” he says.

Abell’s patient approach to photog raphy will be on display at Pink Dog Gallery during his exhibit, This Is Not Rush Hour. The show’s opening recep tion is Friday, Dec. 9, at 5 p.m. The exhibit runs through Sunday, Jan. 8.

ONE LENS, ONE SHOT

Though a native of Asheville, Abell’s career in fluting making began in Boston. It was here that he also discovered photography, thanks to his then-colleague Conrad Marvin. Among Abell’s earliest influences were landscape photographer Ansel Adams and fashion photographer Yasuhior Wakabayashi, also known as Hiro

In 1994, after more than a decade in Massachusetts, Abell relocated his business, The Abell Flute Co., to Asheville. The company’s success, he notes, has afforded him the opportu nities to travel internationally. And his camera, he adds, is always at his side during these trips.

Abell’s photography is notable for its contrast of darkness and light, as well as his interest in finding the extraordinary in ordinary places. The self-described amateur says he prefers to allow the image to speak for itself without the use of photo manipulation.

“A beautiful photograph, wherever you look and no matter how you frame it, is based on the light,” he says. “The light is all we have. Our eyes are filters for light. If the light is right, then there is something beautiful that you’d want to see again.”

One lens, one shot, no post, contin ues Abell, is his philosophical approach to photography. For the artist, it’s about capturing what is out there in the moment and getting the image on a wall rather than a computer.

THE EXTRAORDINARY ALL AROUND

This Is Not Rush Hour features photographs Abell has taken over the last seven years — both in Asheville and abroad. The exhibit’s title, he notes, corresponds with his approach toward photography.

Among the standout images is “Almost Done.” Photographed in Freiburg, Germany, it captures a man carrying multiple chairs on his back toward a cafe. Perhaps a common scene for the city’s residents, the act was an exceptional sight for the Asheville artist.

Another image, “Eiger Morning” was taken atop Eiger Mountain in the Bernese Alps. While inside his hotel room, Abell happened to open his win

Local photographer seeks everyday magic

dow. Outside, the distant mountain peaks broke through a series of clouds.

For Abell, both moments reveal the endless possibilities for amazement and awe — an outlook he hopes view ers take away from his exhibit.

“In every scene and every moment there is something extraordinary,” Abell says. “If you pay attention to it.” X

CAMERA READY: Local photographer and world traveler Chris Abell makes it a point to bring his camera with him wherever he goes, including his recent journey to the Bernese Mountains in Switzerland. Photo by Christopher Gurtner

Location, location, location!

It was this time-tested real estate axiom that led Foothills Meats founder Casey McKissick to launch Foothills Grange at 120 Broadway Ave. in Black Mountain.

“It’s really the location we’ve been waiting for — the largest undeveloped spot left in the cen tral business district,” he says. “It’s smack downtown. You can’t miss it.”

On Sunday, Dec. 4, from 2-8 p.m., McKissick, alongside his wife, Amanda, and their four sons, will host the official grand opening of Foothills Grange. The celebration will double as Foothills Meats 20-year anniversary party. The gathering will include gifts for the first 50 guests, a kids cookie-deco rating station, a tree-lighting cere mony at sunset and festive holiday music from the Upbeats Ukulele Band of Black Mountain. Santa will also be roaming around.

The name of the new venue, says McKissick, is an homage to the Granger movement — a nationwide effort that launched in the after math of the Civil War and aimed to improve conditions for farmers and promote advanced agricultur al methods. McKissick, who began farming in Swannanoa and Old Fort 20 years ago as Crooked Creek Farm, says the movement’s ideals resonated with him.

He describes the Grange menu as “everything I liked to eat growing up.” Hot dogs are a 50/50 ratio of beef and pork with no “funny stuff”; the signature tallow fries use rendered beef fat from Foothills Butcher Shop. There is also a kids

menu as well as a Granny Special for those 70 and older (no proof of longevity required).

Foothills Grange can seat 50 inside and features 16 taps as well as slushies for kids and adults. Sheltered and heated outdoor seat ing can accommodate an additional 250 patrons. The major draw for kids, notes McKissick, is the big dig — a dirt pile equipped with a fleet of Tonka trucks.

Along with the new venue, Foothills Butcher Shop, 107 Black Mountain Ave. (helmed by lead butcher Meg Montgomery and her assistant Meg Treadway ), is open weekdays.

Currently, however, the adjacent Butcher Bar restaurant is closed as McKissick focuses on the Grange. “We wanted to take the Butcher Bar staff with us to get the new spot opened properly, having moved the burgers, Reubens, hot dogs, tallow fries and other favorites to the Grange. Eventually, we’ll reopen Butcher Bar with a less casual menu.”

Foothills Grange is at 120 Broadway Ave., Black Mountain. Closed Wednesdays, daily hours are 11:30 a.m-9 p.m. (with additional bar service until 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays). For more information, visit avl.mx/c6o.

Peru to you

Starting Thursday, Dec. 1, vis itors to S&W Market food hall on Patton Avenue can add Peruvian cuisine to their global culinary experience with the opening of

as Foothills Meats 20th-anniversary party. Pictured, from left, are Cash, Arlo, Casey, Amanda, Waylon and Tucker. Photo by Danny Secor

Mikasa Criolla by Ana Austin and chef Santiago Vargas . The business partners own Mikasa AVL catering company; under that umbrella, they staged pop-up events and dinners fusing Peruvian food with Japanese (Mikasa Nikkei) and Italian (Mikasa Nostra). The pair’s latest launch, Mikasa Criolla, blends Peruvian specialties with Spanish influence.

Austin and Vargas sought a brick-and-mortar home but were challenged by rising costs and scant viable locations. While doing a walk-through of Circa 29, the event space in the basement of the S&W building, the manager shared the news that the Peace Love Tacos space inside the food hall was soon becoming available.

“We jumped on it,” Austin says.

“It was really the right place at the right time,” Vargas adds.

And the right cuisine as well, they believe. “When it comes to

Latin American food here, there is a lot of Mexican and Central American, but no Peruvian,” Austin points out. “Asheville locals and visitors are very open to exploring new things, and we thought this concept was the best way to intro duce ourselves in this location. We bring something new and different to the mix already there.”

The menu is succinct but, says Vargas, packed with flavor. He speaks proudly of the ají de gal lina, a chicken stew with garlic, onions, peppers, Peruvian olives and creamy Parmesan cheese sauce, which can also be ordered as an empanada. Meanwhile, the corn and cheese empanada is vegetarian. Vargas calls the beef empanada one of his favorites.

“I ate it with my mother,” he says. “Chopped meat, hard-boiled eggs, botija black olives and all the seasonings we use in Peru.”

The S&W Market is at 56 Patton Ave. For store hours, visit avl.mx/9hl. For more on Mikasa Criolla, go to avl.mx/c6p.

Growing gains

It’s Christmas cookie season, and Caroline Dockery is ready for it. On Nov. 18, in a masterful stroke of timing, the founder of Morsel Cookie Co. opened a 1,200-squarefoot shop on Rankin Avenue. The young baker and entrepreneur debuted her filled fat cookies at the RAD Famers Market in the summer of 2020. A year later, accelerated growth driven by Instagram closeups of gooey goodness resulted in

HOME, HOME ON THE GRANGE: The McKissick family will celebrate the launch of Foothills Grange on Sunday, Dec. 4. The gathering will also double

her own kitchen and small store front in Woodfin.

“We will continue to bake in the Woodfin kitchen and bring every thing to Rankin fresh every morn ing,” says Dockery. Everything includes her established cookie menu, expanding flavors of cookie cake and brownies, several of which are available gluten-free. The store’s featured cookie of the month will continue, but for the holidays, she’ll also have a new weekly flavor, beginning with a nonfilled molasses spice cookie.

“I ate them for dinner every night the week before the shop opened,” she says.

The new shop’s décor is sim ple and minimal. “We do love our plants, and once we’re open for a bit, we may have some local artists exhibit,” Dockery says.

Seating is available inside, with beverages from the cold case to accompany cookie bites. But the answer to “Got milk?” is sadly no. “Conventional milk shelf life is too short,” Dockery says. “Some aspiring businessperson needs to come up with oat milk in single serving cartons. They’d be huge in Asheville!”

Morsel Cookie Co. is at 45 Rankin Ave. Hours are noon-6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and noon-8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, visit avl.mx/c6y.

Shell, yeah!

Nat King Cole crooned about chestnuts roasting on an open fire, but Jettie Rae’s Oyster House says nuts to that. On Sunday, Dec. 4, the Asheville restaurant partners with Fonta Flora Brewery for an oyster roast from noon-4 p.m. at Whippoorwill Farm in Nebo. The Jettie Rae’s team will be tending the fire and the oysters, while also serving pimento cheese, shrimp dip,

cod fritters and other low country snacks. Fonta Flora craft beers can be purchased. The event is adult, kid and dog friendly.

Whippoorwill Farm is at 6751 N.C. 126, Nebo. Tickets for the roast are $55 per person and can be purchased at avl.mx/c6r.

Go small

American diners are familiar with tapas — a Spanish dining practice of small plates. Pintxos are smaller plates — think of toothpicks as serving tools, says Félix Meana , co-owner of La Bodega by Cúrate.

On Tuesday, Dec. 6, 6-9 p.m., La Bodega chef Matt Brown and wine manager Jessica Salyer are hosting Pintxo Party. The event will fea ture plentiful pintxos and Spanish house wines.

La Bodega by Cúrate is at 32 S. Lexington Ave. Tickets cost $75 per person. For more information, visit avl.mx/c6t.

Roll with it

Bhramari Brewing Co. and Takeout Central have partnered on a concept that introduces shere khan kati rolls to Asheville. The popular street food, which origi nated in Kolkata, India, features partha flatbread and a variety of toppings. Bhramari co-owner and chef Josh Dillard describes partha as a more perfect food vessel than tortilla. Highlights from Bhramari’s kati roll offerings include: Cajun chicken with blue cheese sauce; pulled pork with candied bacon and giardiniera; and Impossible Foods “lamb.” Chaat fries topped with whipped ricotta are also available.

Shere khan kati rolls are deliv ery-only via Takeout Central. For more information, visit avl.mx/c6u.

— Kay West X

Deck the Trees, Black Mountain’s annual Christmas celebration, began modestly in 2011 with about a dozen decorated trees in the lobby of the newly renovated Monte Vista Hotel. Local gallery owner Cappi Macsherry spear headed the event with hopes of bringing some holiday cheer to the town.

Macsherry has since moved, but Deck the Trees has grown to include more than 20 local businesses and has raised nearly $200,000 for the Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry fuel fund.

This year’s event, which runs from Thursday, Dec. 1-Monday, Jan. 2, features 21 decorated trees at the Monte Vista and 20 more at businesses throughout Black Mountain. The theme is “Let Heaven and Nature Sing.”

“When people see the trees, I hope they are filled with the joy and awe of a child at Christmas,” says Libba Fairleigh, chair of the Deck the Trees committee. “Black Mountain is blessed with talented people who share their talents by creating Christmas trees that are works of art, whimsy and delight.”

Since 2012, Deck the Trees has served as fundraiser for the SVCM fuel fund, which provides heating assistance to local households during the winter months. Money is raised through paid sponsorships of about 20 local business es, as well as individual donations.

“Our intention was to rotate the giv ing to the various nonprofits in town,” Fairleigh explains. “However, when we considered the greatest need in the community, it seemed helping people to keep warm during the winter months was the largest need. If we could assist with that need, this would free up more

money for the other needs addressed by SVCM.”

In 2021, the event raised $41,330, a number organizers hope to surpass this year. As Fairleigh points out, the cost of a 100-gallon fuel tank has doubled in the last two years to about $600.

“Families who are struggling to keep their homes warm do not love the winter season,” she says. “To be cold and to have no hope for warmth has to be beyond frightening.”

The Monte Vista Hotel is at 308 W. State St., Black Mountain. For a list of where you can see all the trees, visit avl.mx/c6w. To donate to the Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry fuel fund, go to avl.mx/c6x.

Helping Ukraine

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Asheville artist Brigitte Knauf felt she needed to do something. Having previously helped MANNA FoodBank by donating watercolor paintings for an auction, she decided to try that approach again.

So Knauf put some paintings up for sale to people she knew, with the pro ceeds earmarked for various charities supporting the Ukrainian people. “The generosity of my friends and neighbors was an incredible surprise,” she says.

Now she is having another sale of her work, with hopes of reaching a broader audience. Knauf will hold an open house Saturday, Dec. 3, and Sunday, Dec. 4, 2-5 p.m. at her home, 30 Hibriten Drive. Prices will range from $4 for a single note card to $50 for larger paintings.

All proceeds will go to charitable groups who are working in Ukraine, including World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders.

“It would be such a privilege to be able to make just a little dent in all the misery war causes,” she says.

Sing out loud

The NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition will welcome eight finalists to Citizen Vinyl Saturday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m.

The finalists were selected from online submissions. A panel of music industry judges will select one grand prize winner who will receive a fully funded six-song EP, recorded and mixed at Citizen Studios, plus 500 vinyl records pressed at Citizen Vinyl. The winner also will do a paid performance at Arts Brookfield’s Summer Concert Series in New York in 2023.

The finalists are Rachel Garcia and Thu Tran; Oakland, Calif.; Cozi and Ezra Vancil, Dallas; AC Sapphire, Portland,

Ore.; Indus Adams, San Antonio; Mikalyn, Guelph, Ontario; Justin Cross, Pelham, Ala.; Lua Flora, front ed by Evan Button, Weaverville; and Kristian Phillip Valentino, Asheville.

Citizen Vinyl is at 14 O. Henry Ave. Tickets to the finals showcase are $50 for general admissions and $125 for the VIP package. To learn more, visit avl.mx/c70.

World AIDS Day

The Western North Carolina AIDS Project will partner with Visual AIDS for Day With(out) Art at the Asheville Art Museum on World AIDS Day, Thursday, Dec. 1, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

A new film, Being & Belonging, will be shown on a continuous loop in the museum’s multipurpose space on level 1. The film features seven short vid eos about the experiences of people throughout the world who are living with HIV.

Additionally, five posters located throughout the atrium will share HIVrelated statistics and data. Each of the

Black Mountain. Photos courtesy of Deck the Trees

posters contain a QR codes that links to audio recordings of conversations between HIV-positive individuals living in Western North Carolina.

The poster exhibit will run through Sunday, Dec. 4. Museum hours for Friday-Dec. 2- Sunday, Dec. 4 will be 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

The Asheville Art Museum is at 2 South Pack Square. For more information, visit avl.mx/c71.

Things that pass for knowledge

Asheville Guitar Bar will host a dis cussion of Steely Dan’s classic 1972 debut Can’t Buy a Thrill as part of the ongoing “Music to Your Ears Series” Wednesday, Dec. 7, 7-8:30 p.m.

Music journalist and Xpress contrib utor Bill Kopp will lead the discus sion with special guest Jake Wolf of Asheville Steely Dan tribute band Dirty Logic. In addition, Kopp will play tracks from the album, which features some of the band’s best-known songs, including “Reelin’ in the Years” and “Do it Again.”

“Before Can’t Buy a Thrill, few musi cal acts had successfully synthesized jazz, swing and Latin music elements into a rock or pop context,” Kopp says in a press release. “And those who did wouldn’t enjoy anything like the success that Steely Dan achieved.”

Asheville Guitar Bar is at 122 Riverside Drive, Suite D. Tickets are $10 at the door. For more information, visit avl.mx/c14.

Tribal Museums Day

The Museum of the Cherokee Indian will join other tribal museums and cul tural centers across the country in the first Tribal Museums Day, organized by the Association on American Indian Affairs, on Saturday, Dec. 3. The muse um will offer free admission during its regular hours of 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and will

support Native artists during the holiday season in its store.

The Association on American Indian Affairs is celebrating its 100th anniver sary this year.

“Tribal Museums Day will bring attention to our diverse Nations and cultures, stimulate tourism and grow Tribal economies,” the association says in a press release. “Tribal Museums Day will also support the vision and mission of each Tribal Museum by re-educating the public that our Nations are the primary experts of Indigenous histories, knowledge, cultures, lifeways and values.”

The Museum of the Cherokee Indian is at 589 Tsali Blvd., Cherokee. For more information, go to avl.mx/c75.

— Justin McGuire X

MOVIE REVIEWS

Local reviewers’ critiques of new films include:

THE FABELMANS: In this thinlyveiled autobiographical dramedy, Steven Spielberg looks back on his days as a fledgling teen filmmaker and the impact his parents’ crumbling marriage had on his work. It’s easily one of the year’s best films. Grade: A — Edwin Arnaudin

BONES AND ALL: The creepy, atmospheric first half of director Luca Guadagnino’s cannibal road-trip romance gives way to a rickety final hour. Grade: C — Edwin Arnaudin

Find full reviews and local film info at ashevillemovies.com patreon.com/ashevillemovies

For

828-251-1333, opt. 4.

CLUBLAND

CEDAR MOUNTAIN CANTEEN

Jazz Night w/Jason DeCristofaro, 2pm CORK & KEG

3 Cool Cats (vintage rock-n-roll), 8pm

DRY FALLS BREWING CO.

30

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER

ALLEYCATAVL

Karaoke Nights, 8pm

ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY

Andy Sandford's Atlanta Comedy Invasion, 7pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Disclaimer Stand-Up Lounge Comedy Open Mic, 8pm

BLACK MOUNTAIN BREWING Jay Brown (roots), 6pm

BOLD ROCK ASHEVILLE Survey Says, 7pm

BOLD ROCK MILLS

RIVER Trivia Night, 6pm

FLEETWOOD'S North By North, The Smokey Mountain Sirens, The Hi Helens (punk, indie), 8pm

GRATEFUL ORGANIC DINER Open Mic, 6pm

HI-WIRE BREWING RAD BEER GARDEN Game Night, 6pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

Well-Crafted Wednes days w/Matt Smith (Americana, singer-song writer), 6pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO.

French Broad Valley Mountain Music Jam Session, 6pm

OLE SHAKEY'S Sexy Tunes w/DJ Ek Balam & DJ Franco Nino, 10pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Latin Night Wednesdays w/DJ Mtn Vibez, 8pm

RIVERSIDE RHAPSODY BEER CO.

Open Acoustic Jam, 5:30pm

SILVERADOS

Wednesday Night Open Jam hosted by Hamza Vandehey, 6pm

SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BREWERY Jazz Night w/Jason DeCristofaro, 6pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA Poetry Open Mic w/Host Caleb Beissert, 8pm

SWEETEN CREEK BREWING

Witty Wednesday Trivia, 6:30pm

THE BARRELHOUSE

Open Mic Hosted by Kid Billy, 8pm

THE FOUNDRY HOTEL

Andrew Finn Magill (acoustic), 7pm

THE GREY EAGLE

Travis Book Happy Hour ft Jim Lauderdale (Americana), 7pm

THE ODD John Kirby Jr. & The New Seniors, Pinkeye, Snakesnakewhale (alt, indie, punk), 7pm

THE SOCIAL Wednesday Night Karaoke w/LYRIC, 9pm

TOWN PUMP Lucky James & the High Rollers (blues), 7pm

TWIN LEAF BREWERY Wednesday Open Mic, 5:30pm

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1

185 KING STREET

Congdon & Co. w/Hope Griffin (covers), 7pm

27 CLUB

Thursday Night Trivia w/ Joan Wilder, 10pm

IF I HAD A PONY: Local group Tina & Her Pony will perform an evening of folk music at Story Parlor in West Asheville on Friday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m. The full band will be celebrating the recent release of two singles that will be included on its up coming album. Photo courtesy of Tina Collins

ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR

Robert Thomas Band (70s classic rock jazz fusion), 7:30pm

BLUE GHOST BREWING CO.

Winter Axe Throwing, 5:30pm

BOLD ROCK ASHEVILLE Trivia Night, 7pm

EURISKO BEER CO. Don't Tell Comedy (Secret Show), 7pm

FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY

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

GIGI'S UNDERGROUND

Mr Jimmy (blues), 10pm

ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743

• Jaco Pastorius Birthday Celebration ft bassist Shannon Hoover (jazz), 7pm

• Seth Mulder & Midnight Run (bluegrass), 8:30pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

Bluegrass Jam w/Drew Matulich & Friends, 7pm

MAD CO. BREW HOUSE

Open Mic Night, 6pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO.

Seth and Sara (Ameri cana, country, pop), 7pm

OLE SHAKEY'S Karaoke w/DJ Franco Niño, 10pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

The Lumpy Heads (Phish tribute), 9pm

ONE WORLD BREWING Alma (country, folk, Appalachian roots), 8pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Ben Balmer (singer-song writer), 1pm

PULP Katie Hughes (comedy), 7pm

RENDEZVOUS Albi (vintage jazz), 6pm

SHAKEDOWN LOUNGE Poetry Open Mic Hendo, 7:30pm

STATIC AGE RECORDS

Rob Robinson (songwrit er), 9pm

THE BARRELHOUSE Trivia w/Po' Folk, 8pm

THE FOUNDRY HOTEL

The Foundry Collective ft Pimps of Pompe (jazz, acoustic), 7pm

THE GETAWAY RIVER BAR

Rum Punchlines Comedy Open Mic, 6pm

THE GREY EAGLE The Greybirds & Friends (rock, folk, roots), 6pm

THE ODD Flamy Grant, 7pm

THE POE HOUSE Mr Jimmy (blues), 6pm

THE ROOT BAR Perry Wing Combo (rock), 6pm

TWIN LEAF BREWERY Thursday Night Karaoke, 8:30pm

FRIDAY,

DECEMBER 2

185 KING STREET

Ross Osteen Band (blues, rock), 8pm

27 CLUB Bellizia (punk grass) & Bruschetta Delorean (dark synth rock), 9pm

305 LOUNGE & EATERY Geriatric Jukebox (oldies), 5pm

ALLEYCATAVL

Club Nite w/DJ Blue LLamma (hip-hop, Top 40), 9pm

ASHEVILLE GUITAR

BAR Mr Jimmy (blues), 8pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Consider the Source w/ Beekeepers (sci-fi fusion), 6pm

BLACK MOUNTAIN BREWING

Jack Miller Duo (sing er-songwriter), 6pm

Myron Hyman (classic rock, blues), 7pm

FLEETWOOD'S Howling Giant, MNRVA and Temptations Wings (metal), 8pm

FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY

Tim Baker & All Hands w/Eric Slick (alt/indie, folk), 5pm

GIGI'S UNDERGROUND

• AVL Underground

Comedy: Diego Lopez, 8pm

• Chaotic Comedy, 10pm

GINGER'S REVENGE

CRAFT BREWERY & TASTING ROOM

Connor Law & Dan Keller Jazz Duo, 7pm

HIGHLAND DOWNTOWN

TAPROOM

Drag Music Bingo w/ Divine the Bearded Lady, 7:30pm

ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743

• Redd (Americana), 7pm

• Skies of Avalon & Pyletribe (rock, classic rock), 8:30pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

Resonant Rogues (dark Appalachian folk), 9pm

LAKE LOUISE

COMMUNITY CENTER

Tumo & Kohrs (60s, 70s, holiday), 7pm

MAD CO. BREW HOUSE

Dave Desmelik (sing er-songwriter), 6:30pm

MEADOWLARK MOTEL Friday Night Karaoke, 7pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Kyle Smith w/Two Burnt (Cali reggae), 10pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

Bottleneck Jett Pajama Party (Americana roots, honky tonk, funk), 9pm

SALVAGE STATION

The Fritz w/Joint Killer Brass Band (R&B, soul), 8pm

SILVERADOS

Marc Keller Band (blues, Southern rock), 9pm

STORY PARLOR

Tina and Her Pony (folk, Americana), 7pm

THE BARRELHOUSE Shake a Leg, 8pm

THE GREY EAGLE

Southern Culture on the Skids w/Krekel & Whoa (rock-n-roll, surf, country), 7pm

THE LOFT Gin Mill Pickers (Amer icana, Piedmont blues, ragtime), 8pm

THE ODD

Mass Extinction Volume

4: Trauma Gang vs. Gang Beef (hip-hop, horrorcore), 8pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

Marc Maron (comedy), 7:30pm

THE SOCIAL Grateful Dead Night w/ Dirty Dead, 9pm

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3

185 KING STREET

The Resonant Rogues (dark Appalachian folk), 8pm

305 LOUNGE & EATERY

Old Men of the Woods (folk, pop), 1pm

ALLEYCATAVL Karaoke Nights, 8pm

ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY

Beauty Parlor Comedy: Mike Abrusci, 7pm

ASHEVILLE CLUB

Mr Jimmy (blues), 8pm

ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR

Fifty Year Flood (alt rock, Americana punk, classic rock), 7:30pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

6th Annual A Very Jerry Christmas (Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia tributes), 10pm

BATTERY PARK BOOK EXCHANGE

Dinah's Daydream (Gypsy jazz), 5:30pm

BIG PILLOW BREWING

The Wilder Flower (bluegrass), 3pm

BOLD ROCK ASHEVILLE Bluegrass Brunch, 10am

BOLD ROCK MILLS

RIVER

Old Sap (Appalachian Americana), 6pm

BOOJUM BREWING CO.

Asheville 8 String Collective (jazz, funk, blues), 9pm

CITIZEN VINYL

The NewSong Music Per formance & Songwriting Competition, 7pm

CORK & KEG Soul Blue (soul, R&B), 8pm

FLEETWOOD'S Dex Romweber, The Zealots & Safety Coffin (rockabilly, roots rock, trash blues), 9pm

GIGI'S UNDERGROUND

Jo Gore: Rated R (jazz, r&B), 9pm

ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743

Queen Bee and the Honeylovers: Holiday Concert, 8:30pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

• Nobody’s Darling String Band, 4pm

• The Maggie Valley Band (dark Appalachian), 9pm

LITTLE JUMBO Saturday Night Vinyl Dance Party, 10pm

MEADOWLARK MOTEL

Andrew Wakefield (folk, rock, bluegrass), 7pm

OLE SHAKEY'S SunSet on the Deck w/DJ Nex, 4pm

ONE WORLD BREWING Isaac Hadden (jazz, funk-rock), 8pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Third Annual Winter Bluegrass Festival w/ Songs From the Road Band, 4pm

SALVAGE STATION Ariel Posen (Americana, pop), 8pm

SILVERADOS Tanya & the Roadrun nerz, 9pm

STATIC AGE RECORDS Catalytic Sound Festival, 7pm

THE GREY EAGLE

• Chris Gethard's Beauti ful Anonymous Podcast: Early Show, 7pm

• Chris Gethard's Beauti ful Anonymous Podcast: Late Show, 9:30pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

Scott Bradlee's Postmod ern Jukebox (remade pop hits), 8pm

THE ROOT BAR

White Oak Splits (hillbilly rock), 8pm

URBAN ORCHARD CIDER CO. SOUTH SLOPE Breakin' on Buxton w/ Free Range DJ (80s dance party), 8pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Lazybirds (American roots), 8pm

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4

185 KING STREET

Open Electric Jam w/the King Street House Band ft. Howie Johnson, 5pm

ASHEVILLE GUITAR

BAR Mark's House Jam and Beggar's Banquet, 3pm

BOLD ROCK ASHEVILLE Bluegrass Brunch, 10am

BOLD ROCK MILLS

RIVER Craig St. John (sing er-songwriter), 2pm

CATAWBA BREWING

SOUTH SLOPE

Don't Tell Comedy (Secret Show), 6pm

GREEN MAN BREWERY

Divine's Karaoke Kiki, 7pm

HIGHLAND BREWING

DOWNTOWN

TAPROOM

Mr Jimmy Duo (blues), 1pm

ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743

Robert Thomas Band (70s classic rock jazz fusion), 6pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

• Bluegrass Brunch, noon

• Traditional Irish Jam, 4pm

LITTLE JUMBO

Casey Driessen's Sunday Experiment (folk), 7pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

Third Annual Winter Bluegrass Festival w/ Songs From the Road Band, 4pm

SILVERADOS Karaoke Sunday Nights w/Lyric, 9pm

THE FOUNDRY HOTEL

Daniel Shearin (singer songwriter), 6pm

THE GREY EAGLE

Archers of Loaf w/We Have Ignition (alt/indie), 6pm

MONDAY, DECEMBER 5

27 CLUB

Monday Night Karaoke hosted by Ganymede, 9:30pm

GREEN MAN BREWERY

Old Time Jam, 5:30pm

HAYWOOD COUNTRY CLUB

Taylor Martin's Open Mic, 6:30pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

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

NOBLE CIDER DOWNTOWN Freshen Up Comedy Showcase, 6:30pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO.

Oklawaha Synthesizer Club, 6pm

OLE SHAKEY'S Live Band Honky Tonk Karaoke w/Take the Wheel, 9pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

Mashup Mondays (funk, soul, jazz), 8pm

SILVERADOS

Bluegrass Jam Mondays w/Sam Wharton, 7pm

THE GREY EAGLE Julia Sanders w/KM Fuller (Americana, folk), 8pm

THE JOINT NEXT DOOR

Mr Jimmy and Friends (blues), 7pm

THE ORANGE PEEL Johnnyswim (folk duo), 8pm

THE SOCIAL Line Dance Mondays w/ DJ Razor, 9pm

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6

185 KING STREET

Tuesday Casual Collaborations w/Tim Gardner, Owen Grooms, Matt Gardner, & Jon Weisberger (singer-song writer, Americana), 6:30pm

5 WALNUT WINE BAR

The John Henrys (jazz, swing), 8pm

ARCHETYPE BREWING Trivia Tuesdays, 6:30pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Tuesday Night Funk Jam, 10:30pm

BOLD ROCK MILLS RIVER CIDER Bingo, 6pm

FLEETWOOD'S Rap Show, 8pm

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

OLE SHAKEY'S Booty Tuesday: Queer Dance Party, 10pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Early Tuesday Jam (funk), 8pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

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

SALVAGE STATION

TR3 ft Tim Reynolds (alt/ indie), 8pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA Weekly Open Jam hosted by Chris Cooper & Friends, 8pm

THE GREY EAGLE Corey Feldman (pop), 8pm

THE SOCIAL Travers Freeway Open Jam Tuesdays, 7pm

TWIN LEAF BREWERY Tuesday Night Trivia, 7pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Open Mic Night, 7pm

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7

185 KING STREET

Trivia and Karaoke Night, 7pm

ALLEYCATAVL Karaoke Nights, 8pm

ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY

Beauty Parlor Comedy: Ryan Cox & Friends, 7pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Disclaimer Stand-Up Lounge Comedy Open Mic, 8pm

BOLD ROCK ASHEVILLE Survey Says, 7pm

BOLD ROCK MILLS RIVER Trivia Night, 6pm

FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY

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

HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

Well-Crafted Wednes days w/Matt Smith (Americana, singer-song writer), 6pm

ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743

• The Jake Eddy Trio (bluegrass, Americana), 7pm

• Blue Holiday w/the WTF Blues Band, 8:30pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO.

French Broad Valley Mountain Music Jam Session, 6pm

OLE SHAKEY'S Sexy Tunes w/DJ Ek Balam & DJ Franco Nino, 10pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

Latin Night Wednesdays w/DJ Mtn Vibez, 8pm

RIVERSIDE RHAPSODY BEER CO.

Open Acoustic Jam, 5:30pm

SILVERADOS

Wednesday Night Open Jam hosted by Hamza Vandehey, 6pm

SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BREWERY Jazz Night w/Jason DeCristofaro, 6pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA Poetry Open Mic w/Host Caleb Beissert, 8pm

SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Witty Wednesday Trivia, 6:30pm

THE BARRELHOUSE Open Mic Hosted by Kid Billy, 8pm

THE GREY EAGLE John R. Miller & Melissa Carper (Americana, coun try, singer-songwriter), 7pm

THE ORANGE PEEL Men I Trust w/Home shake (alt/indie), 8pm

THE SOCIAL Wednesday Night Karaoke w/LYRIC, 9pm

TWIN LEAF BREWERY Wednesday Open Mic, 5:30pm

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8

185 KING STREET

Into the Fog (acoustic, Newgrass, stringband), 7pm

27 CLUB

Drunken Spelling Bee hosted by Ganymede, 10pm

ASHEVILLE GUITAR

BAR

Blue Ridge Jazzway, 7:30pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Seppa + Mad Zach, KirbyBright, Soakk & Joneses (edm), 9pm

BOLD ROCK ASHEVILLE Trivia Night, 7pm

GIGI'S UNDERGROUND Mr Jimmy (blues), 10pm

ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743

• The Matt Fassas Trip w/The Well Drinkers (jam rock, Americana, bluegrass), 8:30am

• Asheville Sessions ft Paula Hanke (folk, pop, blues), 7pm

LA TAPA LOUNGE AL Lyons “Stumpwater” Acoustic Music, 7pm

MAD CO. BREW

HOUSE Karaoke Night, 6pm

OLE SHAKEY'S Karaoke w/DJ Franco Niño, 10pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

The Lumpy Heads (Phish tribute), 9pm

ONE WORLD BREWING Jake Blount (acoustic, Americana, bluegrass), 7pm

PULP

Cliff Cash and Comedy Open Mic, 8pm

RENDEZVOUS Albi (vintage jazz), 6pm

SALVAGE STATION

The JLloyd Mashup (funk), 8pm

SHAKEDOWN LOUNGE

Poetry Open Mic Hendo, 7:30pm

THE BARRELHOUSE Trivia w/Po' Folk, 8pm

THE FOUNDRY HOTEL

The Foundry Collective ft Pimps of Pompe (jazz, acoustic), 7pm

THE GETAWAY RIVER BAR

Rum Punchlines Come dy Open Mic, 6pm

THE ODD Joe Buck Yourself, The Deathbots, and Cloud City Caskets (hellbilly punk rock), 7pm

THE POE HOUSE Mr Jimmy (blues), 6pm

TWIN LEAF BREWERY Thursday Night Karaoke, 8:30pm

MARKETPLACE FREEWILL ASTROLOGY BY

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Journalist Hadley

Freeman interviewed Aries actor William Shatner when he was 90. She was surprised to find that the man who played Star Trek’s Captain Kirk looked 30 years younger than his actual age. “How do you account for your robustness?” she asked him. “I ride a lot of horses, and I’m into the bewilderment of the world,” said Shatner. “I open my heart and head into the curiosity of how things work.” I suggest you adopt Shatner’s approach in the coming weeks, Aries. Be intoxicated with the emotional richness of mysteries and perplexities. Feel the joy of how unknowable and unpredictable everything is. Bask in the blessings of the beautiful and bountiful questions that life sends your way.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Of all the objects on earth, which is most likely to be carelessly cast away and turned into litter? Cigarette butts, of course. That’s why an Indian entrepreneur named Naman Guota is such a revolutionary. Thus far, he has recycled and transformed over 300 million butts into mosquito repellant, toys, keyrings, and compost, which he and his company have sold for over a million dollars. I predict that in the coming weeks, you will have a comparable genius for converting debris and scraps into useful, valuable stuff. You will be skilled at recycling dross. Meditate on how you might accomplish this metaphorically and psychologically.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Tips on how to be the best Gemini you can be in the coming weeks: 1. Think laterally or in spirals rather than straight lines. 2. Gleefully solve problems in your daydreams. 3. Try not to hurt anyone accidentally. Maybe go overboard in being sensitive and kind. 4. Cultivate even more variety than usual in the influences you surround yourself with. 5. Speak the diplomatic truth to people who truly need to hear it. 6. Make creative use of your mostly hidden side. 7. Never let people figure you out completely.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): In my dream, I gathered with my five favorite astrologers to ruminate on your immediate future. After much discussion, we decided the following advice would be helpful for you in December. 1. Make the most useful and inspirational errors you’ve dared in a long time. 2. Try experiments that teach you interesting lessons even if they aren’t completely successful. 3. Identify and honor the blessings in every mess.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “All possible feelings do not yet exist,” writes Leo novelist Nicole Krauss in her book The History of Love. “There are still those that lie beyond our capacity and our imagination. From time to time, when a piece of music no one has ever written, or something else impossible to predict, fathom, or yet describe takes place, a new feeling enters the world. And then, for the millionth time in the history of feeling, the heart surges and absorbs the impact.” I suspect that some of these novel moods will soon be welling up in you, Leo. I’m confident your heart will absorb the influx with intelligence and fascination.

VIRGO

(Aug. 23-Sept.

22): Virgo author

Jeanette Winterson writes, “I have always tried to make a home for myself, but I have not felt at home in myself. I have worked hard at being the hero of my own life, but every time I checked the register of displaced persons, I was still on it. I didn’t know how to belong. Longing? Yes. Belonging? No.” Let’s unpack Winterson’s complex testimony as it relates to you right now. I think you are closer than ever before to feeling at home in yourself — maybe not perfectly so, but more than in the past. I also suspect you have a greater-than-usual capacity for belonging. That’s why I invite you to be clear about what or whom you want to belong to and what your belonging will feel like. One more thing: You now have extraordinary power to learn more about what it means to be the hero of your own life.

ROB BREZSNY

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): It’s tempting for you to entertain balanced views about every subject. You might prefer to never come to definitive conclusions about anything, because it’s so much fun basking in the pretty glow of prismatic ambiguity. You LOVE there being five sides to every story. I’m not here to scold you about this predilection. As a person with three Libran planets in my chart, I understand the appeal of considering all options. But I will advise you to take a brief break from this tendency. If you avoid making decisions in the coming weeks, they will be made for you by others. I don’t recommend that. Be proactive.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio poet David Whyte makes the surprising statement that “anger is the deepest form of compassion.” What does he mean? As long as it doesn’t result in violence, he says, “anger is the purest form of care. The internal living flame of anger always illuminates what we belong to, what we wish to protect, and what we are willing to hazard ourselves for.” Invoking Whyte’s definition, I will urge you to savor your anger in the coming days. I will invite you to honor and celebrate your anger, and use it to guide your constructive efforts to fix some problem or ease some hurt. (Read more: tinyurl.com/AngerCompassion)

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sagittarian comedian Margaret Cho dealt with floods of ignorant criticism while growing up. She testifies, “Being called ugly and fat and disgusting from the time I could barely understand what the words meant has scarred me so deep inside that I have learned to hunt, stalk, claim, own, and defend my own loveliness.” You may not have ever experienced such extreme forms of disapproval, Sagittarius, but — like all of us — you have on some occasions been berated or undervalued simply for being who you are. The good news is that the coming months will be a favorable time to do what Cho has done: hunt, stalk, claim, own, and defend your own loveliness. It’s time to intensify your efforts in this noble project.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The bad news: In 1998, Shon Hopwood was sentenced to 12 years in prison for committing bank robberies. The good news: While incarcerated, he studied law and helped a number of his fellow prisoners win their legal cases — including one heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. After his release, he became a full-fledged lawyer, and is now a professor of law at Georgetown University. Your current trouble isn’t anywhere as severe as Hopwood’s was, Capricorn, but I expect your current kerfuffle could motivate you to accomplish a very fine redemption.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “I stopped going to therapy because I knew my therapist was right, and I wanted to keep being wrong,” writes poet Clementine von Radics. “I wanted to keep my bad habits like charms on a bracelet. I did not want to be brave.” Dear Aquarius, I hope you will do the opposite of her in the coming weeks. You are, I suspect, very near to a major healing. You’re on the verge of at least partially fixing a problem that has plagued you for a while. So please keep calling on whatever help you’ve been receiving. Maybe ask for even more support and inspiration from the influences that have been contributing to your slow, steady progress.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): As you have roused your personal power to defeat your fears in the past, what methods and approaches have worked best for you? Are there brave people who have inspired you? Are there stories and symbols that have taught you useful tricks? I urge you to survey all you have learned about the art of summoning extra courage. In the coming weeks, you will be glad you have this information to draw on. I don’t mean to imply that your challenges will be scarier or more daunting than usual. My point is that you will have unprecedented opportunities to create vigorous new trends in your life if you are as bold and audacious as you can be.

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DRIVERS/ DELIVERY

YOUR CAREER STARTS HERE WITH MHC! Get paid to do good! Assessment/ Youth Counselors are needed to support at-risk youth in our residential facility in Asheville.

919754-3633 vpenn@mhfc.org mhfc.org/opportunities

SERVICES AUDIO/VIDEO

BATHWRAPS IS LOOKING FOR HOMEOWNERS We update bathtubs with new liners for safe bathing and showering. Specialize in grab bars, non-slip surfaces and shower seats. All updates are completed in one day. Call 866-531-2432. (AAN CAN)

BCI WALK-IN TUBS ARE ON SALE Be one of the first 50 callers and save $1,500! Call 844-514-0123 for a free in-home consultation. (AAN CAN)

SPECTRUM INTERNET AS LOW AS $29.99! Call to see if you qualify for ACP and free internet. No Credit Check. Call Now! 833-955-0905 (AAN CAN)

WATER DAMAGE TO YOUR HOME? Call for a quote for professional cleanup & maintain the value of your home! Set an appt. today! Call 833-664-1530 (AAN CAN)

AUDITIONS

ACTORS / ACTRESSES

MOUNTAIN XPRESS DELIVERY Mountain Xpress is seeking an energetic, reliable, independent contractor for part-time weekly newspaper delivery. The contractor must have a safe driving record, a reliable vehicle with proper insurance and registration, and be able to lift 50 lbs. without strain. Distribution of papers is on Tuesday mornings and afternoons and typically lasts about 3-5 hours per week. Occasional

Expires 1/21/23. 1-866-566-1815 (AAN CAN)

BUSINESS

BEGIN A NEW CAREER AND EARN YOUR DEGREE AT CTI Attention Active Duty & Military Veterans & Family. Online Computer & Medical training available for Veterans & Families. Computer with internet required. Call 866243-5931. (M-F 8am-6pm ET). AAN CAN.

CREDIT CARD DEBT RELIEF! Reduce payment by up to 50%! Get one LOW affordable payment/month. Reduce interest. Stop calls. FREE no-obligation consultation Call 1-855-761-1456. (AAN CAN)

Spectrum Reach is accepting head shots for local TV advertisements. Looking for talent ages 35-45. Please forward to SpectrumTalent23@gmail. com

MIND, BODY, SPIRIT

BODYWORK

REFLEXOLOGY & REIKI Senior Veteran offering reflexology sessions and 30-minute or 60-minute Reiki sessions. Sliding Scale Fee. Available Tues, Thurs, Fri & Sat. John D. Jones 828-233-5206

TENANT & EMPLOYEE BACKGROUND CHECKS - $50 Credit, Criminal, and Eviction - King Background Screening has been serving the needs of business owners and the rental industry since 2006. Quick results! Denise Anderson (owner) call/text 941-2844612 KingScreening@ gmail.com See web site for full details and prices. kingbackgroundscreening. com

HOME

4G LTE HOME INTERNET NOW AVAILABLE! Get GotW3 with lightning fast speeds plus take your service with you when you travel! As low as $109.99/mo.! 1-866571-1325. (AAN CAN)

DIRECTV SATELLITE TV Service Starting at $74.99/ month! Free Installation! 160+ channels available. Call Now to Get the Most Sports & Entertainment on TV!  877310-2472 (AAN CAN)

DON'T PAY FOR COVERED HOME REPAIRS AGAIN American Residential Warranty covers all major systems and appliances. 30 day risk free - $100 off popular plans. Call 855-731-4403. (AAN CAN)

DONATE YOUR VEHICLE TO FUND THE SEARCH FOR MISSING CHILDREN Fast free pickup. 24 hour response. Running or not. Maximum tax deduction and no emission test required! Call 24/7: 999-999-9999 Call 855-504-1540. (AAN CAN)

COUNSELING SERVICES

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

AUTOMOTIVE

AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES

CASH FOR CARS! We buy all cars! Junk, high-end, totaled – it doesn’t matter! Get free towing and same day cash! NEWER MODELS too! Call 866-535-9689. (AAN CAN)