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[
"Jennifer Barrios",
"John Valenti",
"John Asbury"
] | 2016-08-30T16:49:41 | null | 2016-08-30T12:40:58 | All residents of a Long Beach apartment building were “safe” and “accounted for” after several terraces at the rental residence collapsed Tuesday morning, Long Beach | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsday.com%2Flong-island%2Fnassau%2Fofficials-all-residents-safe-after-long-beach-terraces-collapse-1.12241827.json | http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.12241826.1472575256!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.jpeg | en | null | Officials: All residents safe after Long Beach terraces collapse | null | null | www.newsday.com | All residents of a Long Beach apartment building were “safe” and “accounted for” after several terraces at the rental residence collapsed Tuesday morning, Long Beach fire officials said.
The 48-unit three-story building on Shore Road, between Long Beach and Monroe boulevards, was evacuated after the collapse of at least five brick facade terraces at 7:37 a.m.
Long Beach City manager Jack Schnirman said 37 families had been displaced and said the immediate concern was to make sure they were taken care of. The Red Cross was on the scene, attempting to make housing arrangements for families in need.
Officials said the building would be uninhabitable until city building inspectors could determine if it was safe.
Long Beach Fire Chief Robert J. Tuccillo said: “We’re very lucky. Thank God it happened early in the morning and nobody was outside ... Everybody’s safe and everybody’s accounted for.”
The cause of the collapse was not immediately known.
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Third-floor resident Patricia McNulty, 28, whose terrace was among those that collapsed, said she had been complaining to the building owner for about six weeks, saying the decks were in danger of collapsing.
McNulty said she had texted him a photo of her terrace, reiterating her concerns about an hour before the collapses occurred. “I knew this was going to happen,” she said, adding that she had warned her downstairs neighbor not to use her deck. Newsday obtained the photo in the text sent by McNulty. It shows brickwork missing or damaged and large cracks in the concrete patio floor of her deck.
McNulty said the owner had been telling her for weeks that repairs would be made, but said no work had been done.
Landlord Carmine Tepedino denied that residents had been complaining about the building for several months and said he first learned of it about two weeks ago.
“You can see from the scaffolding, we were working on it. We were fixing the balconies,” Tepedino said.
Tepedino said when he became aware of the situation, residents were urged “not to go outside on the balcony,” Tepedino said.
“Tenants always come up with stories,” he said. “I’m sorry to see it, but I’m glad no one got hurt.
Tepedino said he felt the building was safe after speaking to workers Monday night and didn’t think a collapse would occur.
Long Beach city officials and building inspectors said there were no previous complaints or violations with the city and that Tepedino was cooperative Tuesday.
“We have no violations,” Tepedino said
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Asked if the building was safe, Tepedino said, “It sure is. The terraces were built after. So there’s nothing wrong with the building.”
Asked if it could be prevented, he said, “It’s hard to tell. You can’t tell what’s behind the bricks. We’re assessing the building now and [we’ll] see what the engineer recommends.”
Long Beach building department zoning inspector Rich Schuh said the building was built in 1949 and said the owner had gotten a permit “about a week ago” to conduct “minor repointing” of brickwork there.
Schuh said the contractor hired to do that work only arrived on-site Monday to set up scaffolding — and it was not immediately clear if other work had even begun. Schuh said code enforcement had received no complaints about conditions at the building.
Long Beach police Lt. Eric Cregeen said that in addition to the Red Cross a Long Beach City bus with air conditioning was on the scene to provide relief for residents.
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Cregeen also said that OSHA had been notified of the incident and said PSEG Long Island had turned off all power to the building.
He said that National Grid also was on the scene, attempting to assess that status of any gas service in the area.
Responders from multiple agencies raced to the scene in the wake of 911 calls, among them members of the Long Beach, Point Lookout and Island Park fire departments, as well as ambulance crews and the Nassau County police emergency service unit officers. Even following the collapse, chunks of brick continued to fall from the balconies throughout the morning.
One third-floor resident, Edward Bithorn, 55, said he was headed to the balcony and had just reached the door when he heard what he said sounded “like an explosion” — and he “hit the brakes.”
Bithorn looked out the window to see “the plume of the debris cloud,” followed by the sound of additional collapses, then ran to call 911. Bithorn, whose terrace was not among those that collapsed, said other residents started out onto their balconies to determine the cause of the commotion, realized what had happened, then went to the halls to warn others not to venture out onto their terraces.
Several residents of the Monroe Street apartment complex waited outside the damaged building Tuesday morning as a city engineer was expected to survey the damage.
Residents were told they would be able to return to their apartments one at a time, only briefly, to collect their belongings for overnight once the building was declared safe.
Christiana Baggie was in her ground floor apartment Tuesday morning and had planned to go onto her patio to have coffee before the two balconies above her collapsed.
She stood outside the building Tuesday morning dismayed at the damage and pile of concrete and crumpled metal that collapsed onto her patio.
“There was no warning. It just happened very fast,” Baggie said. “I just thank God I wasn’t out there. I would have been crushed. My guardian angel was here.”
She said she ran out of her apartment screaming to make sure her neighbors were OK.
Contractors started doing work late last week to repair loose bricks on the top two floors, Baggie said.
Scaffolding adorned the front entrance, next to the two fallen balconies.
“It’s such a freak thing,” she said. “I’m very grateful to be alive.” | http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/officials-all-residents-safe-after-long-beach-terraces-collapse-1.12241827 | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.newsday.com/491748ff6805fcc65ea838e96ba37d9f1a599e494a397666c8d64537c7acab05.json |
[
"Víctor Manuel Ramos"
] | 2016-08-30T00:49:34 | null | 2016-08-29T20:24:00 | The question of who decides where a child with special needs is educated was the focus of opening statements and testimony at a Monday hearing | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsday.com%2Flong-island%2Feducation%2Fdistrict-says-it-cannot-satisfy-needs-of-disabled-student-1.12240388.json | http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.12240387.1472516670!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.jpeg | en | null | District says it cannot satisfy needs of disabled student | null | null | www.newsday.com | HIGHLIGHTS Parents of teen with Down syndrome say he should be with former peers
First day of hearing was held Monday in Westhampton Beach
The question of who decides where a child with special needs is educated was the focus of opening statements and testimony at a Monday hearing in Westhampton Beach on placement of a teenager with Down syndrome.
The parents of Aiden Killoran, 13, have said their son should be enrolled in Westhampton Beach Middle School like his peers from the Remsenburg-Speonk district, where he has gone to elementary school, instead of being referred to the Eastport-South Manor district.
Representatives for Westhampton Beach schools, however, said Monday that their district is not prepared to handle the needs of a child with Aiden’s level of disability within their existing classes.
“Simply, we do not have a program that would come close to satisfy the needs of the student,” said Kevin Seaman, an attorney representing the Westhampton Beach school district.
This particular student, Seaman said during his opening statement, is dealing with lessons “of first-grade level” that would be a mismatch for the district’s special education classes of students seeking Regents diplomas.
“Westhampton Beach hasn’t found a need to create such a program . . . because we haven’t had the student profile that warrants that kind of program” and the district is under no obligation “to create a program that does not exist,” Seaman said.
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Christian and Terrie Killoran filed a federal lawsuit in August 2015 requesting that the court “mandate Westhampton Beach Union Free School District to admit” their son as a seventh-grade student and in accordance with an individualized education plan, or IED, specifying his instructional needs.
The suit alleged that the district “has steadfastly refused to accept alternate assessment children” needing special services “in total disregard of the mandate of the IDEIA [Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act] to educate children in the Least Restrictive Environment.”
U.S. District Judge Arthur Spatt dismissed the case in May, saying the plaintiffs had “failed to exhaust their claims” before the district and the state. He concluded that “the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over this action” unless that administrative review had taken place.
The Killorans live in Remsenburg and their son has been attending Remsenburg-Speonk Elementary School there. That district has a contract with Westhampton Beach schools to educate its children in the intermediate and secondary school years. However, Westhampton Beach refers the special education students needing the most services to Eastport-South Manor, under an arrangement with that district.
The Killorans initiated the latest due process case to seek a decision from an impartial hearing officer from the state. They say their son should be able to rejoin his classmates in the eighth grade at Westhampton Beach Middle School.
Nancy Lederman presided as hearing officer Monday at Westhampton Beach High School before an audience of more than 20 people, many there in support of the Killorans.
Christian Killoran, who is a lawyer, repeated his call for Westhampton Beach to offer his child the education he needs in-house, stating that doing otherwise amounts to segregation and discrimination.
“This district has never in its entire history provided for the post-elementary education of an alternately-assessed special education student. Ever,” he said. “And there’s no amount of smoke and mirrors that can hide that fact.”
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Lisa Hutchinson, an attorney representing Remsenburg-Speonk, said the hearing should clarify where the child is enrolled, which entity makes determinations on his special education placement and what program recommendations should be made. She sided with the parents’ request for the teenager to go to the school that her district contracts with for secondary education.
“We do not believe valid and sufficient reasons exist to deny the child enrollment in Westhampton Beach,” Hutchinson said.
The district doesn’t need “all the myriad of special education programs” to enroll Aiden Killoran, just the ones to satisfy its students’ needs, she said.
The hearing lasted for about five hours, with much of that time spent in questioning of Mary Ann Ambrosini, director of pupil personnel at Westhampton Beach and among the administrators overseeing special education programs. She said the district sends “approximately 23 students” to other schools and special-ed programs out-of-district.
She said the Killorans’ son would require “a life skills program” outside stringent testing requirements and more support than the current special education classes of 15 students, a special-education teacher and an aide in current Westhampton Beach classes. He presents “intellectual disability” and “his functioning level is about kindergarten or first-grade level,” she said.
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“If we have enough students to create a program . . . then we do that,” Ambrosini said. “If we have one student it would not benefit him. One student is not a class.”
The family and the two school districts in the hearing are expected to introduce more witnesses in hearings over coming days. The next session is scheduled Thursday. | http://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/district-says-it-cannot-satisfy-needs-of-disabled-student-1.12240388 | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.newsday.com/6f1fa5d54a4eafd8f7647b4bb6f6952bd0d89b944cd3a09469a56b0f578ab875.json |
[
"Daysi Calavia-Robertson"
] | 2016-08-30T12:49:51 | null | 2016-08-30T06:00:00 | Boston-based knitwear brand Nic+Zoe plans to open the company’s second store and its first location on Long Island on Sept. 1. The 1,992-square-foot store in | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsday.com%2Fbusiness%2Fnic-zoe-knitwear-brand-to-open-store-in-roosevelt-field-1.12240023.json | http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.12240642.1472558791!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.jpeg | en | null | Nic+Zoe knitwear brand to open store in Roosevelt Field | null | null | www.newsday.com | Uh-Oh!
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Otherwise, click Subscribe to create a new Newsday account. | http://www.newsday.com/business/nic-zoe-knitwear-brand-to-open-store-in-roosevelt-field-1.12240023 | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.newsday.com/091af3d44dfaf95655ecda5d9bac72bee6a4dcdc7f3521220310df6c59749d76.json |
[
"The Associated Press"
] | 2016-08-28T14:49:07 | null | 2016-08-28T08:28:00 | Police and airline officials say two United Airlines pilots have been arrested for suspected intoxication before they were to fly 141 passengers from Scotland to | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsday.com%2Fnews%2Fregion-state%2F2-united-airlines-pilots-were-drunk-before-flight-from-glasgow-to-newark-officials-say-1.12234627.json | http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.12234646.1472393659!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.jpg | en | null | 2 United Airlines pilots were drunk before flight from Glasgow to Newark, officials say | null | null | www.newsday.com | Uh-Oh!
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Otherwise, click Subscribe to create a new Newsday account. | http://www.newsday.com/news/region-state/2-united-airlines-pilots-were-drunk-before-flight-from-glasgow-to-newark-officials-say-1.12234627 | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.newsday.com/bf3e982ff10b76af33311d9918d4587e0a642cf921729c0ce782025ce50a1cc9.json |
[
"Mark Harrington"
] | 2016-08-29T22:49:35 | null | 2016-08-29T18:06:00 | Hundreds of thousands of electric customers this week have begun receiving newly designed PSEG Long Island bills as the company works to address a major | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsday.com%2Flong-island%2Fnewly-designed-pseg-li-electric-bills-going-out-this-week-1.12239591.json | http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.12239759.1472508403!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.jpeg | en | null | Newly designed PSEG LI electric bills going out | null | null | www.newsday.com | Hundreds of thousands of electric customers this week have begun receiving newly designed PSEG Long Island bills as the company works to address a major complaint that old bills were difficult to read and understand.
The new bills, as previously reported, sport more color, contain more digestible information about electric usage, and feature the most important information, such as the amount due, more prominently. PSEG spent $2 million over two years to complete the redesign.
Graphs on the back also include a comparison to last year’s monthly bill and the average temperatures for each month. The new bills also provide more information on the components that make up each bill.
The shift to easier to read bills is part of a PSEG effort to increase customer satisfaction, which had lagged under LIPA and its contractor National Grid, before PSEG took over in 2014. Bills haven’t been redesigned since 2004.
“I think we’re definitely looking for a bump in customer satisfaction” from new bills, said Fred Daum, director of customer contact and billing at PSEG, New bills began shipping to customers in waves of 50,000 a day beginning on Sunday. Even the 110,000 customers who receive a paperless bill will see their bill with the redesign, he said.
Revised PSEG bill PSEG Long Island is revising customer bills this summer, (2016) making them easier to read, with important information such as the amount due and the due date featured prominently on the bills. Photo Credit: Handout Revised PSEG bill PSEG Long Island is revising customer bills this summer, (2016) making them easier to read, with important information such as the amount due and the due date featured prominently on the bills. Photo Credit: Handout
“It’s much easier to read, and we’re eliminating the need to do some of the math,” said Daum.
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The new bills will feature a message center on the top left-hand side of the front of bills, where customers can also find the next meter reading date. A graph showing energy usage for the past 12 months is in color, and it includes a comparison of the daily cost.
Customers now will tear the payment stub from the bottom of the bill rather than the top.
At least one customer wasn’t impressed. “My own personal (one-person) focus group unanimously prefers a colorless, smaller-format bill featuring lower rates and smaller balances due,” Richard Siegleman, a Plainview ratepayer, wrote to Newsday on seeing the new bills.
All customer classes will receive new bills, Daum said, including those receiving balanced bills. That program, which divides charges into 12 equal payments over the year, is set for a revamping in late September, when PSEG will cease the practice of adjusting the charges as fuel and other costs shift. PSEG will offer customers the opportunity to adjust just once a year, midway through the cycle. It addresses complaints that the stable billing program had seen too many adjustments.
PSEG is also implementing a series of upgrades to its MyAccount online customer billing system. The changes will go live by the end of September, Daum said.
A new MyAccount page on the PSEG will streamline all online customer transactions to three steps or less. That includes paying bills, reporting outages and even setting up a new account, which in the former version involved seven or eight steps. Customers will be able to send a photo of their meter to avoid an estimated reading (they can also call in meter reads).
Business customers with multiple accounts will be able to access all of them with a single logon, and pay amounts due in a single transaction. | http://www.newsday.com/long-island/newly-designed-pseg-li-electric-bills-going-out-this-week-1.12239591 | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.newsday.com/65bb220836beba0255cde6602718af8538124b7ef1e386cc0c3ad766b5f6cb6e.json |
[
"August"
] | 2016-08-27T00:48:43 | null | 2016-08-26T17:04:00 | Looking for a Hamptons fix? We're spotting sunbathers, celebrities, clubgoers and more on the East End all summer long. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsday.com%2Ftravel%2Flong-island-getaways%2Fhamptons%2Fhangin-in-the-hamptons-aug-25-31-2016-1.12219124.json | http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.12230685.1472256538!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.jpg | en | null | Hangin' in the Hamptons: Aug. 25-31, 2016 | null | null | www.newsday.com | Uh-Oh!
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Otherwise, click Subscribe to create a new Newsday account. | http://www.newsday.com/travel/long-island-getaways/hamptons/hangin-in-the-hamptons-aug-25-31-2016-1.12219124 | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.newsday.com/a3169d1c71f013adeaf2c3112fb4d02a6202d831844d3d916e813bfd79f18b6c.json |
[
"Jennifer Barrios",
"John Valenti"
] | 2016-08-30T14:49:50 | null | 2016-08-30T10:49:18 | All residents of a Long Beach apartment building were “safe” and “accounted for” after several terraces at the rental residence collapsed Tuesday morning, Long Beach | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsday.com%2Flong-island%2Fnassau%2Fterraces-collapse-from-long-beach-apartment-building-1.12241827.json | http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.12241826.1472568556!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.jpeg | en | null | Terraces collapse from Long Beach apartment building | null | null | www.newsday.com | All residents of a Long Beach apartment building were “safe” and “accounted for” after several terraces at the rental residence collapsed Tuesday morning, Long Beach fire officials said.
The 48-unit three-story building on Shore Road, between Long Beach and Monroe boulevards, was evacuated after the collapse of at least five brick facade terraces at 7:37 a.m.
Long Beach City manager Jack Schnirman said 37 families had been displaced and said the immediate concern was to make sure they were taken care of. The Red Cross was on the scene, attempting to make housing arrangements for families in need.
Officials said the building would be uninhabitable until city building inspectors could determine if it was safe.
Long Beach Fire Chief Robert J. Tuccillo said: “We’re very lucky. Thank God it happened early in the morning and nobody was outside ... Everybody’s safe and everybody’s accounted for.”
The cause of the collapse was not immediately known.
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Third-floor resident Patricia McNulty, 28, whose terrace was among those that collapsed, said she had been complaining to the building owner for about six weeks, saying the decks were in danger of collapsing.
McNulty said she had texted him a photo of her terrace, reiterating her concerns about an hour before the collapses occurred. “I knew this was going to happen,” she said, adding that she had warned her downstairs neighbor not to use her deck. Newsday obtained the photo in the text sent by McNulty. It shows brickwork missing or damaged and large cracks in the concrete patio floor of her deck.
McNulty said the owner had been telling her for weeks that repairs would be made, but said no work had been done.
The owner of the building could not immediately be reached for comment.
Long Beach building department zoning inspector Rich Schuh said the building was built in 1949 and said the owner had gotten a permit “about a week ago” to conduct “minor repointing” of brickwork there.
Schuh said the contractor hired to do that work only arrived on-site Monday to set up scaffolding — and it was not immediately clear if other work had even begun. Schuh said code enforcement had received no complaints about conditions at the building. It also was not immediately clear if the terraces were an original feature of the building.
Long Beach police Lt. Eric Cregeen said that in addition to the Red Cross a Long Beach City bus with air conditioning was on the scene to provide relief for residents.
Cregeen also said that OSHA had been notified of the incident and said PSEG Long Island had turned off all power to the building.
He said that National Grid also was on the scene, attempting to assess that status of any gas service in the area.
Responders from multiple agencies raced to the scene in the wake of 911 calls, among them members of the Long Beach, Point Lookout and Island Park fire departments, as well as ambulance crews and the Nassau County police emergency service unit officers. Even following the collapse, chunks of brick continued to fall from the balconies throughout the morning.
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One third-floor resident, Edward Bithorn, 55, said he was headed to the balcony and had just reached the door when he heard what he said sounded “like an explosion” — and he “hit the brakes.”
Bithorn looked out the window to see “the plume of the debris cloud,” followed by the sound of additional collapses, then ran to call 911. Bithorn, whose terrace was not among those that collapsed, said other residents started out onto their balconies to determine the cause of the commotion, realized what had happened, then went to the halls to warn others not to venture out onto their terraces. | http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/terraces-collapse-from-long-beach-apartment-building-1.12241827 | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.newsday.com/445c43b68f827740f1437b0d74dc20eaa745008961025d328d391e7eedad2b1e.json |
[
"John Valenti"
] | 2016-08-31T14:49:53 | null | 2016-08-31T07:36:00 | Firefighters from 10 Suffolk County departments battled a raging early morning fire that caused significant damage to a home in Nesconset on Wednesday, police and | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsday.com%2Flong-island%2Fsuffolk%2Fraging-fire-causes-significant-damage-to-nesconset-home-officials-say-1.12246146.json | http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.12246145.1472643402!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.jpeg | en | null | Raging fire causes significant damage to Nesconset home, officials say | null | null | www.newsday.com | Uh-Oh!
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Otherwise, click Subscribe to create a new Newsday account. | http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/raging-fire-causes-significant-damage-to-nesconset-home-officials-say-1.12246146 | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.newsday.com/5c000bab202d779034cdb4ff207f4060230aff4d64439a4d390e7caa3330936e.json |
[
"John Hildebrand"
] | 2016-08-27T14:48:48 | null | 2016-08-27T10:24:00 | Anyone who ever dissected a frog in a school lab assignment probably remembers the smell of chemical preservatives, as well as their feelings of squeamishness. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsday.com%2Flong-island%2Feducation%2Fhow-long-island-students-will-use-virtual-reality-this-year-1.12228710.json | http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.12229568.1472242576!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.jpg | en | null | How Long Island students will use virtual reality this year | null | null | www.newsday.com | Advertisement Advertise here
Anyone who ever dissected a frog in a school lab assignment probably remembers the smell of chemical preservatives, as well as their feelings of squeamishness.
Enter zSpace, a California-based technology firm, that has developed an electronic alternative.
This approach relies on computerized experiments in a setting of three-dimensional virtual reality. No odors, no ickiness.
Founded in 2007, zSpace is widely regarded as a national and international leader in this area of classroom technology.
Students, equipped with the company’s 3-D glasses and electronic styluses, can perform dissections on electronic replicas of hundreds of lifeforms -- from human cells to dinosaurs.
Nor does the technology end there. Students immersed in zSpace’s virtual-reality world can use the same computers to explore volcanos, repair broken rotor blades or disassemble railway cars and put them back together.
“It’s a safe environment,” said Lisa Grippo, the company’s sales director for the Northeast, who is based on Long Island. “You just don’t have to worry that students are going to hurt themselves or blow something up.”
Work stations with zSpace hardware and software will be used in 400 school districts nationwide, including 10 districts on Long Island.
John Hildebrand, Newsday’s senior education writer, recently joined 13 educators for zSpace training at Lincoln Orens Middle School in Island Park.
Here are samples of lab exercises tackled by that group and others: | http://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/how-long-island-students-will-use-virtual-reality-this-year-1.12228710 | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | www.newsday.com/847b636891d6118f760e35131f3d5abc2ee1095434bcf15ed7030e1b709cbbab.json |
[
"Jennifer Barrios",
"John Valenti",
"John Asbury"
] | 2016-08-30T20:49:47 | null | 2016-08-30T16:37:00 | Residents of a Long Beach apartment building were “very lucky” to escape unharmed when several terraces at the rental residence collapsed Tuesday morning, city fire | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsday.com%2Flong-island%2Fnassau%2Fcity-37-families-displaced-after-long-beach-terraces-collapse-1.12241827.json | http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.12241826.1472589420!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.jpeg | en | null | City: 37 families displaced after Long Beach terraces collapse | null | null | www.newsday.com | Residents of a Long Beach apartment building were “very lucky” to escape unharmed when several terraces at the rental residence collapsed Tuesday morning, city fire officials said.
The 48-unit, three-story building on Shore Road, between Long Beach and Monroe boulevards, was evacuated after the collapse of at least five brick facade terraces at 7:37 a.m.
Officials said the building would be uninhabitable until city building inspectors could determine if it was safe.
Long Beach City Manager Jack Schnirman said 37 families have been displaced and said the immediate concern was to make sure they were taken care of. The Red Cross was on the scene, making housing arrangements for families in need.
“We’re very lucky,” Long Beach Fire Chief Robert J. Tuccillo said. “Thank God it happened early in the morning and nobody was outside . . . Everybody’s safe and everybody’s accounted for.”
The cause of the collapse at Sunlit Terrace Apartments was not immediately known.
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Third-floor resident Patricia McNulty, 28, whose terrace was among those that collapsed, said she had been complaining to the building owner for about six weeks, saying the decks were in danger of collapsing.
McNulty said she had texted him a photo of her terrace, reiterating her concerns about an hour before the collapses occurred. “I knew this was going to happen,” she said, adding that she had warned her downstairs neighbor not to use her deck. Newsday obtained the photo in the text sent by McNulty. It shows brickwork missing or damaged and large cracks in the concrete patio floor of her deck.
McNulty said the owner had been telling her for weeks that repairs would be made, but said no work had been done.
Landlord Carmine Tepedino denied that residents had been complaining about the building for several months and said he first learned of it about two weeks ago.
Photo taken Aug. 30, 2016, from Patricia McNulty's third-floor apartment at Sunlit Terrace Apartments on Shore Road in Long Beach shows missing bricks and cracks in the concrete floor. Photo Credit: Patricia McNulty Photo taken Aug. 30, 2016, from Patricia McNulty's third-floor apartment at Sunlit Terrace Apartments on Shore Road in Long Beach shows missing bricks and cracks in the concrete floor. Photo Credit: Patricia McNulty
“You can see from the scaffolding, we were working on it. We were fixing the balconies,” Tepedino said.
Tepedino said when he became aware of the situation, residents were urged “not to go outside on the balcony,” Tepedino said.
“Tenants always come up with stories,” he said. “I’m sorry to see it, but I’m glad no one got hurt.”
Tepedino said he felt the building was safe after speaking to workers Monday night and didn’t think a collapse would occur.
Long Beach city officials and building inspectors said there were no previous complaints or violations with the city and that Tepedino was cooperative Tuesday.
“We have no violations,” Tepedino said
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Asked if the building was safe, Tepedino said, “It sure is. The terraces were built after. So there’s nothing wrong with the building.”
Asked if it could have been prevented, he said, “It’s hard to tell. You can’t tell what’s behind the bricks. We’re assessing the building now and [we’ll] see what the engineer recommends.”
Long Beach building department zoning inspector Rich Schuh said the building was built in 1949 and said the owner had gotten a permit “about a week ago” to conduct “minor repointing” of brickwork there.
Schuh said code enforcement had received no complaints about conditions at the building.
Long Beach police Lt. Eric Cregeen said that in addition to the Red Cross, a Long Beach City bus with air conditioning was on the scene to provide relief for residents.
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Cregeen also said that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration had been notified of the incident and said PSEG Long Island had turned off all power to the building.
He said that National Grid also was on the scene, attempting to assess the status of any gas service in the area.
Responders from multiple agencies raced to the scene in the wake of 911 calls, among them members of the Long Beach, Point Lookout and Island Park fire departments, as well as ambulance crews and the Nassau County police emergency service unit officers. Even after the collapse, chunks of brick continued to fall from the balconies throughout the morning.
One third-floor resident, Edward Bithorn, 55, said he was headed to the balcony and had just reached the door when he heard what he said sounded “like an explosion” — and he “hit the brakes.”
Bithorn looked out the window to see “the plume of the debris cloud,” followed by the sound of additional collapses, then ran to call 911. Bithorn, whose terrace was not among those that collapsed, said other residents started out onto their balconies to determine the cause of the commotion, realized what had happened, then went to the halls to warn others not to venture out onto their terraces.
Several residents of the Monroe Street apartment complex waited outside the damaged building Tuesday morning as a city engineer was expected to survey the damage.
By early afternoon residents were allowed in their apartments to retrieve their belongings, but the city ordered the balconies to be torn down on 18 units on the south side of the building, facing the ocean, before those residents could return. The remainder of the residents are allowed to return to their units Tuesday night.
Christiana Baggie was in her ground floor apartment Tuesday morning and had planned to go onto her patio to have coffee before the two balconies above her collapsed.
She stood outside the building Tuesday morning dismayed at the damage and pile of concrete and crumpled metal that collapsed onto her patio.
“There was no warning. It just happened very fast,” Baggie said. “I just thank God I wasn’t out there. I would have been crushed. My guardian angel was here.”
She said she ran out of her apartment screaming to make sure her neighbors were OK.
Contractors started doing work late last week to repair loose bricks on the top two floors, Baggie said.
Scaffolding adorned the front entrance, next to the two fallen balconies.
“It’s such a freak thing,” she said. “I’m very grateful to be alive.” | http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/city-37-families-displaced-after-long-beach-terraces-collapse-1.12241827 | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.newsday.com/1a37d7279c91db7afa4fb2830f881da49512c5ffb722903ba0b1d7ac698f4d16.json |
[
"Darran Simon"
] | 2016-08-26T16:48:36 | null | 2016-08-26T12:22:02 | Mourners remembered three family members killed in last weekend’s crash on the Long Island Expressway as diligent and selfless leaders with mega smiles.“These things, this | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsday.com%2Flong-island%2Fnassau%2Fpinales-family-members-killed-in-lie-crash-remembered-at-service-1.12226280.json | http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.12227091.1472223098!/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.JPG | en | null | Pinales family members killed in LIE crash remembered at service | null | null | www.newsday.com | Mourners remembered three family members killed in last weekend’s crash on the Long Island Expressway as diligent and selfless leaders with mega smiles.
“These things, this joy that they brought to us and you brought to them, these are gifts that God gives to us,” Bishop Robert Brennan of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, told mourners Friday morning.
Three coffins sat in the center aisle of the church during the service, which was held mostly in Spanish.
Brennan said people remembered Cristopher for his smile and how he brought joy to people. Patricia was “a mother filled with love,” who always worried about others and Carmelo was “a care giver, a hard worker,” Brennan said.
Brennan said everyone feels that “sting and that pain and sorrow of death.”
“It’s because we love so much that we hurt so much,” he said.
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He added: “Nothing, nobody, not even death, can take away our bonds of love.”
After the service, Carmelo and Patricia Pinales’ uncle, Federico Pinales of Rockville Centre, said the three were “leaders.”
“They are an example for the family and for everyone,” he said.
Mourners began gathering early Friday morning at St. Martha’s Catholic Church in Uniondale for the funeral.
Three hearses pulled up to the church, each carrying the body of Carmelo Pinales, 26, of Hicksville, his sister, Patricia Pinales, 27, of Westbury, and his son, Cristopher Pinales Figuereo, 10. The three family members were among six killed in the Sunday morning three-car crash between exits 68 and 69 in Manorville.
The funeral service was to be followed by burial at Greenfield Cemetery, also in Uniondale.
Federico Pinales told Newsday the large but close-knit family is devastated by the losses.
“These were good kids who were brought up with old values,” Federico Pinales, of Freeport, said. “They were always focused on their families.”
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Patricia and her brother, Carmelo, who police said was driving the car that lost control and hit the others, came to the United States from the Dominican Republic about a decade ago, said their uncle.
Patricia studied to become a medical assistant and Carmelo held three jobs as a restaurant worker, he said.
The night before the crash, the family reunited in Freeport to celebrate a cousin’s graduation, and both Carmelo and Patricia would routinely circle the room, giving hugs to their relatives.
“It’s like they sensed something was going to happen, because all night, every couple of minutes, they would all come up to me and give me hugs,” Federico Pinales said.
Antero Pinales, the grandfather of Carmelo’s son, Cristopher, said his grandson was loving and polite.
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Pamela Rodriguez of Deer Park said her friend Patricia Pinales was focused on her family, especially her 3-year-old daughter, who survived the crash.
“She was very outgoing,” Rodriguez said. “She was a party girl, but after she had her daughter, she put that aside and everything was for her daughter.”
With Gary Dymski | http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/pinales-family-members-killed-in-lie-crash-remembered-at-service-1.12226280 | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.newsday.com/ee7df492ddda66eab2f8c06cb48d7117078f50208c110db5822dade8eca23a2f.json |
[
"Emily C. Dooley"
] | 2016-08-26T20:48:45 | null | 2016-08-26T16:41:06 | An estimated 11,000 juvenile and adult bunker fish have died after they entered Mill Pond in Centerport, became trapped and succumbed due to low oxygen | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsday.com%2Flong-island%2Fsuffolk%2Ftown-estimated-11-000-bunker-dead-in-mill-pond-fish-kill-1.12229228.json | http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.12229511.1472244063!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.jpeg | en | null | Town: Estimated 11,000 bunker dead in Mill Pond fish kill | null | null | www.newsday.com | An estimated 11,000 juvenile and adult bunker fish have died after they entered Mill Pond in Centerport, became trapped and succumbed due to low oxygen levels, Huntington Town officials said.
The fish kill is the largest seen in the town in years, spokesman A.J. Carter said, recalling a mass die-off in Cold Spring Harbor 30 years ago.
“Too many fish came in and the tide went out and they got trapped,” he said Friday. “This is a natural occurrence. It happens this time of year.”
Most of the fish, also known as menhaden, are clustered in an area along the pond’s shore near Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church. The dead fish include about 1,000 adults and 8,000 to 10,000 juvenile fish smaller than 2 inches.
Gloria Wertheimer, who is retiring president of the Centerport Harbor Civic Association, said she reported the fish kill Thursday and is avoiding the area.
“The smell is just unbelievable,” she said.
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After talking with state Department of Environmental Conservation officials, Carter said the town decided to close the tidal gates between Mill Pond and Centerport Harbor to keep the area flooded in hopes that the fish will move farther into the water body and sink.
“Right now our belief is that nature should take its course,” he said. “While we’re watching this, we’re evaluating other options.”
Spencer Kriegstein, 13, of Huntington, looks over the edge of Mill Dam in Centerport on Friday, Aug. 26, 2016, after thousands of dead bunker fish died and washed up on the shore. Photo Credit: Newsday / John Paraskevas Spencer Kriegstein, 13, of Huntington, looks over the edge of Mill Dam in Centerport on Friday, Aug. 26, 2016, after thousands of dead bunker fish died and washed up on the shore. Photo Credit: Newsday / John Paraskevas
Chris Gobler, a professor with Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, said in an email that the fish kill “makes sense” because North Shore monitoring devices showed oxygen levels dropping to zero after last weekend’s rains.
Earlier this week, Nassau County crews collected, bagged and disposed of dead bunker fish found in Silver Lake in Baldwin, public works spokeswoman Mary Studdert said.
Last year, a spike in algal blooms and low oxygen levels were blamed for the deaths of 300,000 menhaden in three separate fish kills along the Peconic River. | http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/town-estimated-11-000-bunker-dead-in-mill-pond-fish-kill-1.12229228 | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.newsday.com/3423661e027bd45c91f55ef5e670b065d1c90bba3339b4ac02858cd226b04e19.json |
[
"The Associated Press"
] | 2016-08-26T20:48:44 | null | 2016-08-26T15:04:00 | Pennsylvania State Police say a missing three-year-old girl apparently taken by her father has been found in New York City. An Amber Alert was issued | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsday.com%2Fnews%2Fnew-york%2Fmissing-3-year-old-pennsylvania-girl-found-in-nyc-1.12228882.json | http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.12229129.1472238568!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.jpg | en | null | Missing 3-year-old Pennsylvania girl found in NYC | null | null | www.newsday.com | Uh-Oh!
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Otherwise, click Subscribe to create a new Newsday account. | http://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/missing-3-year-old-pennsylvania-girl-found-in-nyc-1.12228882 | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.newsday.com/c76a7f2923ce897adcbd2a4126617c76ca1481ccd9b77cfb832adbae0625c28e.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T16:49:29 | null | 2016-08-29T08:53:00 | Barbecue has caught fire on Long Island. Only a few years back, one could count the number of serious local barbecue spots on one hand. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsday.com%2Flifestyle%2Frestaurants%2Fbarbecue-restaurants-on-long-island-our-critics-favorites-1.8916757.json | http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.11296327.1452089389!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.jpg | en | null | Barbecue restaurants on Long Island: Our critics' favorites | null | null | www.newsday.com | It's official: Barbecue has caught fire on Long Island. Only a few years back, one could count the number of serious local barbecue spots on one hand. Thankfully, those days of settling for so-so ribs, chicken, brisket and pulled pork smothered in sticky sauce are gone. Now, you can afford to be picky about where you go to satisfy a yen for something slow-smoked and delicious. Here are some of our favorites.
Selections by Newsday food staff
(Credit: Daniel Brennan) (Credit: Daniel Brennan) A whole rack of ribs is served at Smoke Shack Blues in Port Jefferson.
LI Pour House (Credit: Daniel Brennan) (Credit: Daniel Brennan) LI Pour House, Port Jefferson Station: At LI Pour House, a lively sports bar, you get to pour your own craft beer and cider. The real draw, though, is the BBQ from chef co-owner Joseph Sestinger, who knows the art of slow-smoking. Top picks include burnt brisket ends, sliders with pulled pork, pulled chicken and brisket, smoked and fried chicken thighs and mac and cheese-topped hot dogs.
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(Credit: Daniel Brennan) (Credit: Daniel Brennan) Two racks of smoky baby-back ribs with beans, mac-and-cheese, Carolina coleslaw and cornbread at LI Pour House in Port Jefferson Station.
(Credit: Marisol Diaz) (Credit: Marisol Diaz) Smokin' jumbo wings are served with one of four barbecue sauces at The Smokin' Rib in Rockville Centre.
Townline BBQ (Credit: Gordon M. Grant) (Credit: Gordon M. Grant) Townline BBQ, Sagaponack: A magnet for celebs as well as locals, this rustic order-at-the-counter spot keeps everybody coming back for more. Grab an outdoor table with a view of surrounding farmland. To eat: smoky ribs (both pork and beef), pulled pork, barbecued chicken and brisket. Sides include mac and cheese, roasted beets and collards. Finish with whoopie pie.
(Credit: Gordon M. Grant) (Credit: Gordon M. Grant) The pulled pork sandwich at Townline BBQ.
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Biscuits & Barbeque Buy photo (Credit: Alessandro Vecchi) (Credit: Alessandro Vecchi) Biscuits and Barbeque, Mineola: Meaty, spice-pebbled ribs and deeply smoky chicken are major draws at this friendly Southern spot, housed in a vintage diner. Precede the 'cue with a big, hot flaky biscuit with andouille sausage gravy. (Alligator sausage is pictured.) Or a rich and zesty bowl of seafood gumbo. Share a bubbling casserole of mac and cheese and finish with a slice of warm pecan pie.
(Credit: Alessandro Vecchi) (Credit: Alessandro Vecchi) Peach cobbler is served a la mode at Biscuits & Barbecue in Mineola.
Smokin' Wolf (Credit: Gordon M. Grant) (Credit: Gordon M. Grant) Smokin' Wolf, East Hampton: Arthur Wolf's Smokin' Wolf is the flavorful heir to Turtle Crossing, where Wolf also specialized in Southwest barbecue. Bulk up at his own place with pulled pork, pulled chicken, brisket, smoked sausage and barbecued chicken (pictured). You'll enjoy the fish tacos and fried chicken, too. But Smokin' Wolf earns its name the old-fashioned way. Good sides include collard greens, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato fries and coleslaw.
(Credit: Gordon M. Grant) (Credit: Gordon M. Grant) Barbecue brisket chili and corn bread is served at Smokin' Wolf.
North Fork Bacon & Smokehouse (Credit: Randee Daddona) (Credit: Randee Daddona) North Fork Bacon and Smokehouse, Wading River: Hours are limited to weekends (Friday to Sunday only) at this storefront, where disposable dinnerware and tight seating matter less than the high quality of the 'cue. From competition barbecue veteran Patrick Gaeta and crew come a brontosaurian beef rib topped with pickled red onion, baby back ribs and brisket -- all imbued with depth and smokiness. Sides are made to order -- even the hand-cut fries and mac and cheese laced with house-smoked bacon.
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(Credit: Randee Daddona) (Credit: Randee Daddona) Bone-in beef short ribs are served with pickled onions and house slaw at North Fork Bacon & Smokehouse.
Mara's Homemade (Credit: Newsday / Elysia Smith) (Credit: Newsday / Elysia Smith) Mara's Homemade, Syosset: A star of the menu are the tender ribs, which are smoked daily. Pulled pork and chopped brisket benefit from the terrific house-made hot sauce. Hush puppies, here fried cornbread spiked with jalapeño peppers, beat any rolls. Have some very good fried pickles and fried green tomatoes. Also notable are crawfish cheesecake, a lush wedge spiked with andouille sausage and crawfish tails, baked with cheese, under a bread-crumb crust; the house's crawfish boil, three pounds of the beloved pick-and-suck mudbugs, delivered in an Abita bucket; and any of the po'boys, oyster, shrimp, catfish, crawfish.
(Credit: Heather Walsh) (Credit: Heather Walsh) The oyster po'boy at Mara's Homemade stars Louisiana Gulf oysters coated with seasoned cornmeal and fried. They're served on a baguette dressed with lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, Crystal Hot Sauce and Mara's own sauce rémoulade; no-mayo coleslaw on the side.
Maple Tree BBQ (Credit: Randee Daddona) (Credit: Randee Daddona) Maple Tree BBQ, Riverhead: The former Maple Tree Deli and Market is now a full-service barbecue house presided over by owner-pitmaster Kevin Judge and sons. They serve up lightly smoky, moist ribs and chicken, as well as brisket, but it's the house-smoked pastrami (pictured) -- dry-rubbed with coriander, paprika, brown sugar, garlic and mustard seed -- that can knock your socks off. Finish with homey pineapple upside-down cake.
(Credit: Randee Daddona) (Credit: Randee Daddona) A North Carolina burger with pulled pork and portobello mushrooms is served with sweet potato fries at Maple Tree BBQ.
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Smokin' Al's Famous BBQ Joint (Credit: Donna Alberico) (Credit: Donna Alberico) Smokin' Al's Famous BBQ Joint, Massapequa Park: Barbecue boss Al Horowitz serves up moist spice-rubbed smoked baby backs as well as meaty St. Louis ribs at his Massapequa Park house of 'cue. (Pictured is the rib and chicken combo.) Monster beef bones are huge, smoky and tender. The ridiculously tall "haystack" of fried onions may obscure the person sitting opposite you. Try a Caesar salad topped with pulled pork. Or a bowl of smoky, creamy Brunswick stew, loaded with chicken, sausage, pork and vegetables. You won't leave hungry.
(Credit: Yvonne Albinowski) (Credit: Yvonne Albinowski) Mac and cheese is served at Smokin Al's Famous BBQ Joint in Massapequa Park.
Swingbellys Beachside BBQ (Credit: Linda Rosier) (Credit: Linda Rosier) Swingbellys Beachside BBQ, Long Beach: Having seen the wrath of superstorm Sandy, two renovations and five different pitmasters, Swingbellys comes out swinging harder than ever. Here, the meat is coated with an ingenious mix of dry-rub spices, imbued with a haunting smokiness. BBQ sauce is superfluous. Standouts include plump meaty chicken "swingz," smoky, tender St. Louis ribs, pulled pork and pit-smoked chicken. And don't miss the opulent "mac and Pete," a bowl of creamy, al dente mac and cheese laced with brisket burned ends.
(Credit: Yvonne Albinowski) (Credit: Yvonne Albinowski) The Classic BBQ sandwich is made with brisket and comes with coleslaw and crispy onions at Swingbellys Beachside BBQ in Long Beach.
Bobbique (Credit: Doug Young) (Credit: Doug Young) Bobbique, Patchogue: At this popular barbecue spot in the heart of Patchogue, you can wash down your 'cue with a craft brew from an impressive list of choices, both bottled and on tap. With the blues playing (either live or on the sound system), you can get into some jumbo barbecue chicken wings -- big and smoky, as well as smoky, tender St. Louis ribs (pictured) and well-burnished barbecue chicken. You'll also want to order some hand-cut fries, either regular or sweet potato. Finish with Southern banana pudding.
ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISE HERE | http://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/restaurants/barbecue-restaurants-on-long-island-our-critics-favorites-1.8916757 | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.newsday.com/319c81e7b3666e75f07bed0c893b008018630c0b0cb58a131408d111b6e931ba.json |
[
"Anthony M. Destefano"
] | 2016-08-30T18:49:43 | null | 2016-08-30T13:39:52 | A so-called “mystery jogger” seen recently in Howard Beach, Queens, was ruled out as a possible subject in the investigation of the killing of Karina | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsday.com%2Fnews%2Fnew-york%2Fmystery-jogger-ruled-out-in-karina-vetrano-s-slaying-police-say-1.12243074.json | http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.12243073.1472578790!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.jpeg | en | null | ‘Mystery jogger’ ruled out in Karina Vetrano’s slaying, police say | null | null | www.newsday.com | A so-called “mystery jogger” seen recently in Howard Beach, Queens, was ruled out as a possible subject in the investigation of the killing of Karina Vetrano after the person voluntarily talked with police on Monday night, a top NYPD official said Tuesday.
The 48-year-old man walked into the 106th Precinct late Monday after Philip Vetrano, the slain woman’s father, said on a radio program that both he and the police wanted to talk with the man in connection with the 30-year-old woman’s death.
Karina Vetrano’s body was found on the night of Aug. 2 in Spring Creek Park.
Police have said she left her home about 5:30 p.m. that day for her usual run and is believed to have entered the park at 161st Avenue and 81st Street, about three blocks from her home on 84th Street in Howard Beach. She is believed to have run west on a path through the park, where she was confronted by an “unknown person or persons,” police have said.
She was strangled and had been battered and sexually abused.
On Monday night, Philip Vetrano questioned the whereabouts of the male jogger, saying during a radio interview with Curtis Sliwa on WABC radio that the man had not been seen since Karina was killed. The father said the man used to run in the neighborhood near Spring Creek Park.
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NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said the male jogger went to the precinct after hearing the broadcast and was discounted as a subject in the probe. The jogger had hurt his knee and has had to refrain from running in recent weeks, Boyce said.
News that the man had surfaced was good news to Philip Vetrano.
“That is great, I just wanted to talk to him. I never said he was a suspect,” he said.
Boyce also noted that DNA taken from Karina Vetrano’s cellphone and her body has been analyzed and has not matched any profiles found in state or national databases. He said that the DNA also has not matched any profiles kept in smaller databases of samples taken from robberies and other crimes for which there are no identified suspects. | http://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/mystery-jogger-ruled-out-in-karina-vetrano-s-slaying-police-say-1.12243074 | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.newsday.com/2a3d5c345a0c490a74ad7450b8a14ecbca3126ee1242f1b66f472406a4e3976b.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T18:47:04 | null | 2016-08-28T13:00:02 | “As a volunteer tutor working with these children, you are planting a seed,” says Linda Kane, a longtime volunteer and supporter of local nonprofit Children First/Communities In Schools. “Hopefully, this seed will grow into a love of learning that will stay with them throughout their lives.” | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fopinion%2Fvolunteering-is-my-retirement-job-an-interview-with-a-children-firstcis-volunteer-tutor%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Linda-and-K-1100x729.jpg | en | null | Volunteering is my retirement job: An interview with a Children First/CIS volunteer tutor | null | null | mountainx.com | “I think the first part of your life is finding your gift and the second part of your life is giving it back,” says Linda Kane, a longtime volunteer and supporter of local nonprofit, Children First/Communities In Schools — a philosophy that she puts into practice every day.
Children deserve the opportunity to reach their full potential, but for many local children, the burdens of poverty can be an impediment to success both in and out of school. Imagine a child who arrives to school hungry or perhaps without getting enough sleep the night before because of overcrowding in their homes. Or they aren’t receiving proper medical attention. These circumstances make it exponentially difficult for a child to concentrate on their schoolwork or even stay alert throughout the day— both during school and in after-school programs.
But with extra attention from community volunteers, children have an opportunity to overcome these barriers and improve not only their grades, but also their attitudes about school. Kane, one such community volunteer, has been a consistent and caring volunteer tutor at the Children First/CIS after-school Learning Center at Pisgah View Apartments and is helping change the lives of local children.
“I grew up in a family of six, and my dad worked in a factory,” says Kane. “We didn’t have a lot, but I grew up reading books constantly. Through books, I learned of worlds different than my own, and that there were so many possibilities out there.”
She decided to become a lawyer. After graduating from law school, she worked for many years as an attorney. But she also had a passion for teaching, so she went back to school to get her teacher’s certificate and taught for a few years at an inner-city school in Jacksonville, Fla.
In 2008, she retired and moved to Asheville with her husband. Not one to sit still, she immediately started researching volunteer opportunities. With a passion for teaching, especially children living in poverty, she knew she wanted to be a volunteer tutor.
She found out about the Children First/CIS after-school learning center program. This program, located in the low-income communities of Pisgah View and Woodridge apartments, is free of charge to families living in these communities and provides 40-plus elementary school-age children a safe-haven after-school environment with a healthy snack, homework help, enrichment activities and opportunities for parents to learn and become involved.
Kane immediately signed up as volunteer tutor at the Children First/CIS Learning Center at Pisgah View and has been coming to the center twice a week since 2008.
“As a volunteer tutor working with these children, you are planting a seed,” she says. “Hopefully, this seed will grow into a love of learning that will stay with them throughout their lives.”
As Kane is talking, a third-grader, Kimasia, walks into the room. Kane has been working one-on-one with her for the past three years. They read together, work on homework, and practice math skills. A struggling student, Kimasia relishes the focused attention. And Kane is a diligent tutor, patient when Kimasia gets distracted, but bringing her back to the work at hand.
“If 5+4=9 then what is 4+5?” asks Kane. After thinking it through, Kimasia gives the correct answer. “Good! That’s right!” she replies, as a smile of pride lights up Kimasia’s face.
Together they go through multiple pages of a math workbook, as the third-grader continues to grasp the fundamentals.
There is evidence that the love of learning is starting to take root. “Ever since Kimasia started working with Linda, we have seen not only an improvement in her grades, but also in her overall attitude about school and doing her homework,” says Children First/CIS Parent Involvement Coordinator at Pisgah View Learning Center, Lex Perry. “She was never that interested in doing her homework; now she can’t wait to go to Linda and start working.”
“You have to find your passion,” says Kane. “Reading and teaching is my passion. Paying it forward is my passion.”
When asked how she feels about Ms. Linda, Kimasia smiles shyly and says, “She’s a great person.”
You, too, can make an impact in the life of a local child by volunteering just one hour a week! Become a volunteer tutor at one of Children First/CIS after-school learning centers at Pisgah View or Woodridge communities, or at other Children First/CIS academic programs at local elementary schools. Go to www.childrenfirstbc.org and click the Volunteer button on the sidebar, or call 620-9091.
Jodi Ford is the outreach and engagement coordinator for Children First/ Communities In Schools of Buncombe County, a local nonprofit that believes all children deserve to reach their full potential. The organization helps achieve this by surrounding children and their families with supports that help them succeed in their schools, communities and homes. Whether that’s providing a food box, tutoring in school and after school, getting school supplies, teaching parenting skills or helping families meet basic needs, the nonprofit is there. Along with direct services, the organization advocates for policies that support families with local and state policymakers. To find out more, go to www.childrenfirstcisbc.org. | http://mountainx.com/opinion/volunteering-is-my-retirement-job-an-interview-with-a-children-firstcis-volunteer-tutor/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/f6bf229d1626e787afc2e10ed42507ce1cc2f6344027829748479c7cf63d9a53.json |
[
"Kat Studied Entrepreneurship",
"Music Business At The University Of Miami",
"Earned Her Mba At Appalachian State University."
] | 2016-08-28T10:46:59 | null | 2016-08-28T06:16:39 | Each week, Xpress highlights notable WNC crowdsourcing initiatives that may inspire readers to become new faces in the crowd. This week features
Empire Strikes Brass' upcoming album release and | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Farts%2Ffaces-in-the-crowd-wnc-crowdfunding-initiatives-90%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/ESB-at-EM.jpg | en | null | Faces in the crowd: WNC crowdfunding initiatives | null | null | mountainx.com | Crowdfunding platforms make it possible for individuals and organizations of any size to harness social networks and raise start-up capital for projects that might otherwise fail due to lack of funding. Each week, Xpress highlights notable Western North Carolina crowdsourcing initiatives that may inspire readers to become new faces in the crowd.
Empire Strikes Brass’ double debut
It’s clear, based on footage from their Kickstarter video, that the musicians in Empire Strikes Brass are eating full and balanced breakfasts. With that energy, they’ve played more than 300 shows and collaborated with artists like Beats Antique and Warren Haynes since forming in 2012. What’s even more impressive is that the troupe has built a fanbase for its danceable brass music without the assistance of a recorded album. That’s about to change, though. The band is currently recording its original debut album at Echo Mountain Recording Studio and making progress on a separate project with local electronic producer Liam Collins, also known as Push/Pull. That collaboration, called Push/Pull Strikes Brass, boasts a “totally unique sound that hasn’t been done before,” says saxophonist Pauly Juhl. “Push/Pull provides a big electronic sound while Empire Strikes Brass adds live texture and big horns.” The group aims to raise $15,000 by Friday, Sept. 9, to pay for recording and releasing the two debut albums and investing in new merchandise.
On that same night, Empire Strikes Brass will lead a donation-based bar crawl that fans are welcome to attend. It starts at Foggy Mountain Brew Pub at 8 p.m., before pit stops at other musically-inclined watering holes like Tressa’s Downtown Jazz and Blues and the Asheville Music Hall. “We’ll be parading between bars, jamming with the acts at each bar and then parading to the next,” Juhl says. “The goal is to have a good time, and [we] hope to raise some funds for the Kickstarter.”
Documenting intentional communities
“We’ve been separated physically and emotionally by the marketing machines of modern society so that every single home and family must fend for itself, purchase their own set of products instead of sharing, and waste valuable time and resources,” reads a campaign page by Blue Cobalt, executive director of nonprofit Living Paradise. “It’s time that we learn to live together in harmony with each other and the planet.” Unfortunately, many of the intentional communities that are established to combat this cycle end up failing. However, the Living Paradise team is setting out to explore the factors that enable success among select alternative living arrangements at various stages of development. The first hour-long documentary in the series, available here, highlights the inner workings of a spiritual community in Florida, for example. Cobalt aims to raise $55,000 by Thursday, Sept. 15, to fund further travel and coverage for its documentary collection, titled intentional.
Send your crowdsourcing campaign news to kmcreynolds@mountainx.com. A limited number of campaigns will be highlighted each week, at Xpress’ discretion. Campaigns must be locally based and should represent a current project with an achievable goal. Conditions are subject to change. Read about more Western North Carolina projects here. | http://mountainx.com/arts/faces-in-the-crowd-wnc-crowdfunding-initiatives-90/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/575a5764b70ea1b4216554d80239e053cafd6873fa29cbd0a09b79adaa454899.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T02:48:23 | null | 2016-08-30T15:14:18 | The Story: Three young thieves attempt to go out on one last big score by robbing a blind Iraq War vet of $300,000 dollars stashed in his Detroit home. What they find within is far more insidious than they could ever have expected. The Lowdown: A nerve-wracking psychological thriller that hits all the right notes, Don't Breathe delivers chills without excessive gore. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fmovies%2Freviews%2Fdont-breathe%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Dont-Breathe.jpg | en | null | Don’t Breathe | null | null | mountainx.com | The Story: Three young thieves attempt to go out on one last big score by robbing a blind Iraq War vet of $300,000 dollars stashed in his Detroit home. What they find within is far more insidious than they could ever have expected. The Lowdown: A nerve-wracking psychological thriller that hits all the right notes, Don't Breathe delivers chills without excessive gore.
Some cinematic solipsists have stated that we are living in the midst of a horror renaissance, simultaneously a golden age of experimentation as well as a revival of the core values of a genre which fell into decline following the slasher glut of the late ’80s. I have often differed with this position, citing the overreliance on jump scares and profligate CG monstrosities that seem to be the hallmarks of the postmodern horror film, while opining the lack of originality and general laziness in screenwriting that seem endemic in a genre for which I have always held the deepest affection. As the summer movie season draws to a close, I have seen precious little that would dissuade me from my perspective on the matter. However, I am pleased to say that Don’t Breathe has encouraged me to reexamine my contentions.
While it must be acknowledged that a single film cannot redeem an entire genre, I will say that Don’t Breathe has engendered a cautious optimism regarding the potential of contemporary filmmakers to craft taught, suspenseful tales on a shoestring budget without falling prey to the unfortunately common shortcuts and shortcomings previously noted. It’s particularly poignant that the filmmakers responsible for my renewed hope are writer-director Fede Alvarez and co-writer Rodo Sayagues, the duo behind 2013’s Evil Dead remake, a movie that is frequently referenced in arguments supporting the aforementioned renaissance. That’s also a film for which my feelings might generously be described as lukewarm, especially in comparison to the vastly superior original. So when I begrudgingly acknowledge what these two have accomplished with Don’t Breathe, it’s not without an admittedly slight smile on my face.
Make no mistake, Don’t Breathe is a film with a particularly warped sensibility, but this is entirely appropriate to its genre and subject matter. What’s particularly laudable about the film is that none of its perversity seems forced or exploitative. Alvarez establishes more character and expository context with his camera in the first five minutes than many films do in the entire first act. While none of the cast’s motivations are explored in great depth, their decisions seem reasonable (if not entirely rational), grounding the story’s more extreme elements in a solid narrative foundation. The premise is relatively straightforward, but the permutations of the plot are far from what you might expect.
Alvarez is developing into a consummate stylist — with some gimmicky night-vision shots working far better than they should — but it’s his sense of directorial restraint that really places this film on a higher level than his previous work. Alvarez also makes some excellent decisions with his cast, putting together a team of up-and-coming genre stalwarts who rise to the challenges of this claustrophobic chiller’s dialogue-light, performance-reliant script. Dylan Minnette and Daniel Zovatto ably support Jane Levy, with easily her best performance to date, in the lead. But it’s Stephen Lang who steals the show as The Blind Man, a suitably menacing role that establishes Lang as far more than the competent background player he’s been relegated to for most of his career.
This film is by no means perfect, but when it works, it works. It’s not for everyone, but devoted enthusiasts of psychological horror will find the film more than worth their time. It’s not quite as brutal as Green Room (2015), a similarly unrelenting (and similarly great) sadistic thriller with an equally anarchic tone. But Don’t Breathe knows how to use the threat of violence to its greatest advantage. By avoiding the prolific gore that characterized Green Room, it makes room for the development of tension in a way that never really lets up until the final scene. Don’t Breathe plays something like a role-reversed Wait Until Dark (1967), with its antagonist’s disability becoming an almost superhuman threat to our protagonists’ aims (and lives) and Lang’s performance imbuing the Monster of the piece with some sense of pathos — at least until we find out what he’s really hiding in his locked basement.
While I certainly wouldn’t describe Don’t Breathe as a subtle picture, there’s a sense of understatement that differentiates it from the torture porn and Grand Guignol gore that have become the defining characteristics of the postmodern horror picture. If anything, this film is attempting to inject a decadent genre with aspects of Artaud’s Theater of Cruelty and, in trying to do so, give it a new lease on life. Predictable in some places and straining credulity in many others, it nevertheless delivers thrills and chills without succumbing to cheap diversionary tactics. Don’t Breathe breathes new life into a genre that has always seemed preternaturally predisposed to quick stagnation. Rated R for terror, violence, disturbing content and language including sexual references.
Now playing at Carolina Cinemark, Regal Biltmore Grande, UA Beaucatcher, Epic of Hendersonville | http://mountainx.com/movies/reviews/dont-breathe/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/bebcb0cc83b96d3440ace7953cc4b849a82ca9396261463dda2cb047b2ef8542.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T14:48:17 | null | 2016-08-23T14:13:39 | The Story: Future President Barack Obama and Future First Lady Michelle (née Robinson) go on their first date. The Lowdown: A toothless exercise in premature mythologization, Southside is likely to feel contrived to all but the most ardent Obama fans. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fmovies%2Freviews%2Fsouthside-with-you%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Brody-SouthsidewithYou2-1200-1100x731.jpg | en | null | Southside with You | null | null | mountainx.com | Let’s get this out of the way: I like Barack and Michelle Obama. But I am also aware that they are human beings. I feel the need to clarify this fact because Southside with You seems to have lost sight of it. In mythologizing the Obama romance, it loses the human element (not unlike the manner in which Jackie Onassis’ use of the sobriquet Camelot put a storybook sheen on a relationship — and presidency — that was every bit as conflicted and problematic as anybody else’s). While I wasn’t expecting anything salacious, I had hoped for a little more nuance. If you’ve ever heard a friend or relative tell an implausibly romantic and convenient story about how they got together with their spouse, then you have some idea of what this film entails.
Maybe I’m jaded — and that “maybe” is heavily laden with sarcasm — but I suspect that nobody’s relationship is as uncomplicated and obvious as the meet-cutery depicted between the Obamas in this film. Douglas Sirk at his worst couldn’t have conceived of a more treacly melodrama with lower stakes than Southside with You. Sometimes you know how a film ends before you set foot in a theater, but a great movie can make you forget that fact. Southside beats its audience over the head with the implications of its humble premise, never passing up an opportunity to remind us who these accomplished young lawyers-in-love will become. While this film tells a very nice story — and, for all I know, it may well be accurate — I don’t believe it for one minute.
That said, Southside is far from the worst film I’ve seen this week or even this month. In places, it’s actually pretty good. Had the film been a romantic dramedy about two random young people falling in love in 1980s Chicago, it would’ve been better than a lot of films of its ilk. But Southside is so convinced of its own significance that its attempts to humanize its leads come across as supremely contrived, with the future Obamas playing like caricatures rather than characters. It’s almost as if writer-director Richard Tanne wanted to shoehorn in every publicly known personal detail of his subjects’ first date to assure the audience of his story’s authenticity, rather than simply penning Barack and Michelle as relatable protagonists.
Tanne’s shortcomings extend well beyond his script, and that’s a genuine shame because stars Parker Sawyers and Tika Sumpter embody Barack and Michelle admirably. The duo ably carry a film that consists of little more than the two of them walking and talking — a commendable feat under the best of circumstances — and one wonders what they could’ve accomplished had they been working with better material. But Tanne’s direction is as flaccid as his script is pat. An exchange (of Tanne’s invention) in which Barack and Michelle debate the aesthetic merits of African-American artist Ernie Barnes references the painter’s involvement with the TV show Good Times, and this allusion is particularly apt because Tanne’s establishing shots are stylistically redolent of sitcom filmmaking. If Barnes is noted for portraying the verve and dynamism of ghetto life, Tanne’s work shares more with Norman Rockwell’s aseptic vision of an impossibly saccharine world.
Watching Southside, I couldn’t help but recall a conversation I had with my father after we saw Walk the Line together on its release. I complained that Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal didn’t quite match my mental image of Johnny Cash, and my dad had to explain that this was the point of the film. Cash wasn’t always the mythic creature he would one day become, and that’s the point that Southside misses when it comes to the Obamas. Human beings, historically significant or otherwise, do not emerge fully formed like Athena from the head of Zeus. There is no real sense of growth or conflict here, just a highly idealized portrait of a much-loved power couple as though it were made in anticipation of people missing them once they’re no longer in the White House. When that day comes, perhaps I’ll feel differently about Southside with You. For the time being, however, I’ll have to abstain from giving Tanne’s debut feature my vote of confidence. Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, smoking, a violent image and a drug reference
Opens Friday at Carolina Cinemark and Fine Arts Theatre | http://mountainx.com/movies/reviews/southside-with-you/ | en | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/b308f63526e6a23193d8d40127d1ebe1357ce2bf0920ba9c046082c2ea5705fd.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T06:48:13 | null | 2016-03-04T06:44:52 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fopinion%2Fshots-fired-in-his-pants%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Gender-Neutral-1100x850.jpeg | en | null | Shots fired! In his pants? | null | null | mountainx.com | null | http://mountainx.com/opinion/shots-fired-in-his-pants/ | en | 2016-03-04T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/6f8f05989edaf99e6244ef0187abbcbd01a013d0580d44d05aadbd083fc15714.json |
[
"Max Hunt Grew Up In South Jersey",
"Graduated Warren Wilson College In He Currently Lives In Mars Hill",
"Enjoys Exploring Back Roads",
"Football",
"History",
"Horror Stories."
] | 2016-08-26T20:46:33 | null | 2016-08-26T15:00:21 | New downtown development specialist and Asheville native Dana Frankel took time from her busy schedule to speak with Xpress about growing up in the city, her role among downtown stakeholders, facilitating equity around the central business district and what makes Asheville special to her. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fnews%2Fan-interview-with-asheville-downtown-development-specialist-dana-frankel%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/NEWS-FRANKEL-Dana-2-1100x733.jpg | en | null | An interview with Asheville Downtown Development Specialist Dana Frankel | null | null | mountainx.com | Parking. Public-space management. Ensuring downtown stakeholders are heard and included in city plans and processes: These are just a few of the challenges Asheville native Dana Frankel, the city’s new downtown development specialist, has been working on since taking her position with the city in May.
Xpress reached out to Frankel to get her take on a changing Asheville, on issues from infrastructure to equity, and most important — what makes Asheville a special place to her. The following is an excerpt from our correspondence:
Xpress: You came back to Asheville after several years working in New York City. What was it like growing up here, and how has the city changed?
Dana Frankel: Growing up in Asheville was the best! I spent a lot of time playing in creeks, building forts and being outside. In high school, I was especially grateful for Asheville Music Zone, which had a lot of shows open to all ages. And I don’t think I missed a Bele Chere.
When you’re a kid, it’s hard to know any different, but it’s really when I left Asheville that I realized how special it was and how much it shaped me. Recognizing that phenomenon is what inspired me to study urban planning — I find the role of places fascinating in the way that they shape people’s day-to-day experiences and overall quality of life, from how it feels walking down a street, to how people connect with one another and find a sense of community.
It’s so wonderful to see so many restaurants, breweries and local businesses packed with people. We’ve always had a beautiful, historic, walkable downtown, but now it has more life than ever.
What duties and responsibilities does your position with Asheville city government entail?
A major part of the role is serving as a point of contact for downtown stakeholders and enhancing communication between [them] and the City to ensure that information is provided in a timely and accessible way. I also serve as the staff liaison for the Downtown Commission and facilitate monthly meetings with staff’s Downtown Issues Task Force.
A few projects I’m working on include stakeholder outreach to consider temporary vehicular [road] closures and programming for Wall Street; efforts to address downtown public-space management, safety and placemaking; the Haywood/Page visioning process; South Slope planning; and coordination of a recent public workshop on Aug. 17 to get feedback on a downtown circulator [shuttle service] as part of a parking study.
I still have a lot to get caught up on, but I’ve enjoyed a busy couple of months meeting people and working to build a thorough foundation of context on the issues, opportunities and challenges facing downtown.
Many locals say downtown is mostly geared toward tourists. How is the city working to reinforce a sense of ownership among local residents?
There are organized groups for those living downtown, including DARN [Downtown Asheville Residential Neighbors] and the South Slope Neighborhood Association, which the city works with very closely. [Residents’] representation on city boards and commissions, nonprofit organizations and participation in downtown initiatives offer platforms for addressing the needs of downtown residents. Programming and events supported by the city can also be geared for locals living downtown and elsewhere. Family-friendly amenities like Splashville in Pack Square Park are a great draw for locals downtown.
On another side of this, improving multimodal-transportation access and parking downtown can benefit [all] Asheville residents. Aside from entertainment and food, downtown is where much of our city and county governments conduct business and engage with the local community on many levels. Access to social services and government functions is a major reason why our transit lines feed into downtown. It’s a hub for residents from all sides of town, and from all economic backgrounds.
Along those same lines, are there any concerted efforts or plans in the works to ensure that tourism isn’t the sole economic driver downtown?
There are efforts on several fronts to diversify economic drivers downtown and the city as a whole. The city’s Innovation Districts link to downtown, and were developed to promote hubs for jobs and public-private investment.
A recent success is the White Labs [a biotech yeast company] facility, which brings 65 new jobs to a formerly city-owned site that’s adjacent to the Central Business District. Initiatives supported by the city through the Chamber’s Economic Development Coalition and Venture Asheville are also helping grow the start-up and technology ecosystem downtown. Offhand, the Collider [a meeting space for science experts and business entrepreneurs to collaborate] and Hatch [a shared space for start-up businesses to collaborate and share ideas] are good indicators of this progress.
Asheville has experienced tensions lately regarding what some see as a lack of diversity downtown. How can we increase opportunities for minority citizens to feel included in downtown’s culture?
A component in the Downtown Master Plan says, “Enhance Downtown’s role as the larger community’s front porch.” I think this statement says a lot. The downtown experience should offer opportunities for people of all backgrounds to gather and interact. This can happen in well-designed public spaces, through programming, and with access to culture, entertainment and unique goods and services. [City] Council’s Strategic Vision prioritizes not only supporting minority businesses, but using a racial equity lens to achieve strategic goals across sectors.
Our Economic Development staff proactively identifies and offers support to minority- and women-owned businesses, and provides guidance to those vendors and service providers to bid on city projects. A support group was also formed to provide networking and promotional opportunities for Asheville’s small, minority and women-owned businesses.
Through my meetings and conversations, I am trying to get a handle on what brings people downtown, what might keep people away, how people are accessing the downtown and what we can be doing to support an environment that’s as inclusive and accessible as possible.
On a lighter note, what do you like to do in your free time?
While it may not technically be “free time,” I’m really enjoying my walks to work and throughout the day. I have also been checking out as many downtown events as possible – outdoor yoga on Saturdays, Downtown After 5, Shindig on the Green, LEAF and ending the work week with a little drum circle action.
I also enjoy getting out on my bike and riding down to the River Arts District or on Town Mountain. On weekends, I’m spending as much time as possible hiking, swimming in swimming holes and tubing the French Broad.
As someone who’s lived and worked in New York City, what do you feel makes Asheville and WNC special?
You know what’s funny? In New York, when I would tell people where I was from, about half the time, the response was, “Asheville!! That’s amazing! How lucky are you?!” and the other half of people just didn’t get it at all.
I originally thought I’d be in NYC for a year or two and then come back. That turned into more than nine, but I finally made it. To be honest, my New York experience felt full, and in a way, complete. For me right now, the best things in life are here – family, mountains and a job working in one of the most interesting and exciting downtowns there is. New York will always be there, but Asheville is my home. | http://mountainx.com/news/an-interview-with-asheville-downtown-development-specialist-dana-frankel/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/93a0b712e0c4a6567866f79285641e1dca146f3e72a6ba0c1da9b2f1a3b73632.json |
[
"We Want To Hear You",
"Send Your Letters",
"Commentary To Letters Mountainx.Com"
] | 2016-08-26T12:55:44 | null | 2016-08-17T10:00:27 | " I would say the repeated, almost daily, killing of unarmed and nonviolent black men, boys, women and girls is absolutely heartbreaking, soul-destroying and completely depressing." | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fopinion%2Fletter-writer-black-people-are-denied-justice-and-truth%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/X_letters-1100x734.jpg | en | null | Letter writer: Black people are denied justice and truth | null | null | mountainx.com | The letter writer for “Rethink Your Battles, Protesters,” [Aug. 3, Xpress] really must have a very calloused heart to say that police killings under “circumstances that were obviously unjust” was “incredibly disheartening.” I would say the repeated, almost daily, killing of unarmed and nonviolent black men, boys, women and girls is absolutely heartbreaking, soul-destroying and completely depressing. It is the lack of any public remorse by our country’s police that is incredibly disheartening. But one thing that writer did not mention is that often the original police stories of those killings were often proven totally false when videos came to light. That has happened many times. And no one faces any real consequences.
That letter writer then goes on to defend the Asheville Police Department officer in the recent shooting of Jai Lateef Solveig “Jerry” Williams, without any corroborating evidence other than what has been presented via the APD in the local media. I was not at the scene of this shooting, but I have heard from people who have talked to witnesses on the scene, and they are telling a very different story. I have also heard that there is video from this shooting, but that APD still has the cell phones with the videos on them. If that is true, then the APD needs to release the cell phones and videos and let the public judge the evidence.
And I think the State Bureau of Investigation report on A.J. Marion should be released also. I feel that would go a long way to corroborate the APD’s version of what happened at that [September 2013] shooting — or not. I have lots of doubts about that incident.
At Bele Chere in 2007, I saw an APD officer grab a young women and throw her to the pavement and then yell at her to leave immediately or he would have her arrested. She jumped up and ran off. I went up to this officer a few minutes later and asked him why he threw her to the ground, and he told me that he did not throw her to the ground, she tripped. I found out that two local women (one a friend, one a stranger) had also seen this incident from a closer perspective. We decided to pursue this with Chief [Bill] Hogan. After months of stalling, we met with Chief Hogan and two city officials. At that meeting, Chief Hogan told us we did not see what we thought we saw. I learned from that experience that APD officers can lie to my face, and the chief and city will back him up. Things may be different today, but I suspect not.
I do agree with that letter writer that “it’s not safe with people shooting off assault rifles.” And the only way to counter that problem is to ban assault rifles and round them up. Having the police shoot up people with assault rifles strikes me as a dangerous course to pursue. I feel it is not the protesters who do not understand the seriousness of the situation — I think it is the letter writer, the APD and some city officials.
The ones out there protesting do realize how bad the situation is for black people in our country — we are treating them like their very right to go on living is not an important issue. We are treating them like their lives do not matter. We are treating them like they are less than fully human with the same rights and same opportunities as anyone else in our country. There is a rage developing (and has been developing for a long time), and this is a situation that could totally explode, since justice and truth have been denied for so very long. It is a soul-destroying situation that cannot continue. #BlackLivesMatter.
— Susan Oehler
Asheville
Editor’s note: When contacted by Xpress about the 2007 Bele Chere incident, Asheville Police Chief Tammy Hooper provided the following response:
“In reference to the 2007 case mentioned [in the letter], that took place nine years prior to me beginning with the Asheville Police Department. Our Professional Standards Unit did locate an investigative file regarding the incident. The complaint was investigated and a letter sent to the complainant informing her of the results. We cannot release any information on the case due to it being a personnel matter, however, I do agree that the investigation appears to have taken longer to complete than it should have.
Our procedures have been updated since 2007 and require that investigations be completed in a timely manner. If a citizen wishes to make a complaint, they can follow instructions on our website, or call our Professional Standards Unit at (828) 259-5907.
The Asheville Police Department is dedicated to providing the best police service possible and as such, will thoroughly investigate any accusation of wrongdoing by our officers.” | http://mountainx.com/opinion/letter-writer-black-people-are-denied-justice-and-truth/ | en | 2016-08-17T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/472954d05e334e003e2276dba2e8f92cc818cc06bc3ca073a79fdf06f276bdb0.json |
[
"Kat Studied Entrepreneurship",
"Music Business At The University Of Miami",
"Earned Her Mba At Appalachian State University."
] | 2016-08-29T16:47:22 | null | 2016-08-29T11:27:11 | Comedians Krish Mohan and Lee Camp tackle social and political issues during their stand up sets at The Southern Kitchen & Bar on Saturday, Sept. 3. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Farts%2Fsmart-bets-lee-camp%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/LEE-1-1100x619.png | en | null | Smart bets: Lee Camp | null | null | mountainx.com | Some animals are so ugly, they’re cute. And some social and political systems are so blatantly dysfunctional that they manage to invite humor. That’s the point where Lee Camp does his best work, dissecting current events with spirited wit. As the creator and lead anchor on his weekly comedic news show “Redacted Tonight,” Camp covers topics like the presidential election, drivers of police brutality and other quagmires — the fact that rage is such a common (but unnecessary) response to seeing a goth “running a hardware store out of his face,” for instance. Before launching the show, Camp spent more than a decade doing stand-up comedy, an art form he’ll revisit twice in Asheville. Krish Mohan opens for Camp at The Southern Kitchen & Bar on Saturday, Sept. 3, at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. $10/$12 per show. leecampasheville.bpt.me. Photo courtesy of the comedian | http://mountainx.com/arts/smart-bets-lee-camp/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/e4fea75e683525b7834d709a3640439bf601c0a00fe106388cd6aada9f44b1d7.json |
[
"I Live In West Asheville. I Do A Lot Of Reading. Follow Me On Twitter"
] | 2016-08-26T16:46:51 | null | 2016-08-26T12:00:54 | The result was a fish-out-of-water story in which Joanne Gordon, the daughter of a successful radio minister, moves from gay-friendly Atlanta to a small-town Rome, Ga., with her father and new stepmother. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Farts%2Fjaye-robin-brown-launches-an-lgbtq-novel-for-young-adults-on-aug-30%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Peaches-JRBrown.jpg | en | null | Jaye Robin Brown launches an LGBTQ novel for young adults on Aug. 30 | null | null | mountainx.com | Western North Carolina-based author Jaye Robin Brown first conceived of her new YA novel, Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit, when she heard an NPR story about the wealth of radio pastors. “It was fascinating,” Brown says, “and I thought, what if one of those guys had a gay daughter?” When another writing project stalled, she turned to this idea and found that the writing flowed quickly. “I wrote 10,000 words in a weekend, which never has happened before.”
The result was a fish-out-of-water story in which Joanne Gordon, the daughter of a successful radio minister, moves from gay-friendly Atlanta to a small-town Rome, Ga., with her father and new stepmother. She’s bound by a bargain in which her father will allow her to start her own radio show under the umbrella of his ministry — provided Joanna, an openly-gay teen, goes back into the closet. This arrangement, however, hits an iceberg when Joanna finds herself in a love affair with Mary Carlson, a pillar of her church and high school communities.
Brown will launch Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit at Malaprop’s on Tuesday, Aug. 30. The event includes a panel discussion featuring Lauren Gibaldi, Ashley Herring Blake and Kathryn Holmes, moderated by local author Amy Reed.
Brown, who came out in her late 20s, writes in part from personal experience, but also out of the time she spent as a teacher in a rural high school. She’s seen kids ejected from their families for coming out, she says, a rejection driven by the parents’ faith. And yet, in rural communities, faith remains very much a part of kids’ identities. “I see faith as so important to these young people,” Brown says, “because it’s so important to their families. For a while, you take on the mantle of whatever your family is about, and so they want that in their lives. It’s a comfort to them, and yet there’s all this other messaging.”
In Peaches, this conflict between faith and sexuality complicates virtue — the loyalty of friends and the bonds of family — and the natural process of self-discovery. Teens “have very clear thoughts about the world, and what they want for themselves,” Brown says. “A lot of them really do have good parental relationships.” But while Joanne makes friends and works hard to build a new life in Rome, she and Mary Carlson must still contend with preachers sermonizing against homosexuality, the censure of relatives and church members, the potential repercussions for Joanna’s father’s ministry, and — perhaps most damaging — the negative stereotyping of their high school peers.
Nevertheless, Brown says, she sees room in the real world for a romance like Joanna and Mary Carlson’s. “I know there are places where there’s ugly stuff happening,” she says. “But I do think that there are other faith communities where there’s a shift happening.” And, while she adds that she understands that her depiction of the life of a gay teen in a small town may be “too hopeful in certain areas,” she’s nevertheless proud of the circle of friends she depicts in Peaches. The group includes an autistic teen who is widely accepted by his peers, and instantly accepting of Joanna. Importantly, too, Joanna enjoys full acceptance by her own family.
And Joanna does find romance in a rural southern community, an event that, for Brown, is the true heart of the story. “It is kind of an issue book,” she says, but she hopes readers — gay teens and their allies — will focus on the romance.
“It’s a romance first and foremost,” Brown says. “I just felt that was really important, so I did it.”
WHAT: Launch event for Georgia Peaches and other Forbidden Fruit
WHERE: Malaprops’ Bookstore/Café, 55 Haywood St., malaprops.com
WHEN: Tuesday, Aug. 30, 7 p.m. Free | http://mountainx.com/arts/jaye-robin-brown-launches-an-lgbtq-novel-for-young-adults-on-aug-30/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/38105bb91463a74615d7a991f9fc555995f89b086b61eea60428ee1b7cd2a12c.json |
[
"Thomas Calder Received His Mfa In Fiction The University Of Houston'S Creative Writing Program. He Has Worked With Several Publications",
"Including Gulf Coast",
"The Collagist. For His Weekly",
"Tuesdayhistory Tidbits On Asheville",
"Follow Him On Instagram"
] | 2016-08-27T10:47:36 | null | 2016-08-23T15:00:16 | We continue with Martha Marie Shank's recollections of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Her letter's recipient is future Fitzgerald biographer, Arthur Mizener. In 1936, Shank was brought on as Fitzgerald's business manager while he stayed at the Grove Park Inn. Shank’s letter is written 13 years after the events she’s describing, when she is 63 years old, retired… | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fnews%2Ftuesday-history-fitzgeralds-suicide-attempts-at-the-grove-park-inn%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Screen-Shot-2016-08-19-at-3.21.13-PM.png | en | null | Tuesday History: Fitzgerald’s suicide attempts at the Grove Park Inn | null | null | mountainx.com | We continue with Martha Marie Shank’s recollections of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Her letter’s recipient is future Fitzgerald biographer, Arthur Mizener. In 1936, Shank was brought on as Fitzgerald’s business manager while he stayed at the Grove Park Inn. Shank’s letter is written 13 years after the events she’s describing, when she is 63 years old, retired and living in her Jefferson Apartment on Merrimon Avenue. For those interested in the first half of the letter, and for a brief overview of Fitzgerald’s time in Asheville, click here.
Thanks, as always, to Pack Memorial Library’s Special Collections, North Carolina Room for its assistance.
On Oct. 26, 1949 Martha Marie Shank wrote:
One of the first things he talked to me about was the lurid article “Happy Birthday to You, Scott Fitzgerald” that had appeared in a New York paper… on his 40th. He really seemed crushed about it and said, “Martha Marie, it nearly broke my heart.” He insisted that when the reporter came to interview him he was not drunk but was sick and almost delirious with pain from his shoulder. He said the reporter was his guest for lunch or dinner or something, and that he thought they had gotten along well, and he was shocked and hurt beyond measure at the article. What the facts were as to his condition at that time of course I couldn’t say.
…
Yes, he talked a lot about Zelda, and I saw her a few times. She tried some in that time to write on the subject of choreography, and I had it typed for her in my office. I know nothing of choreography, but what she wrote appeared to me to make no sense. He told me how he met her and fell in love, and how beautiful she was. “She was lovely,” he said. He told me of living in the Riviera, but insisted that they did not lead a gay and giddy life; that he worked seriously, and that Zelda did, too. He said it took him at least two years to write a novel. He told me of her ability both to write and to paint, saying that her paintings had been exhibited, but I don’t know where, and that she had had a novel published by Scribner’s. However, he added, the great love of her life was dancing and she hoped some day to get in the Russian Ballet. He said at one performance in which she took part a scout was present who offered her a part in the Folies Bergere, and that that knocked her cold; that she then realized she would never achieve her ambitions and she cracked up then, never again to be entirely well mentally.
That had occurred either seven or nine years (I have forgotten which) previous to their coming here, and he said he had had her in various sanataria in Europe and this country and had taken care of her much of the time himself, but the time had come when he could no longer do so, and he had brought her here to Highland Hospital, and that was the reason for his coming here. He talked as if he had always loved her, but that did not keep him from having some “great and good friends”… He went to see her occasionally but not often, as the doctors thought that best.
Speaking of doctors – after so long a time without her in attendance, Dorothy [his nurse] thought she should not stay, so he called in a doctor who treated alcoholics, but his treatment never amounted to anything. In my opinion, there were two reasons for this: Scott did not want to stop and the doctor did not know how to make him want to. He came and stayed for long sessions, which bored Scott almost to tears. He said he didn’t know how to get rid of him, adding, “I am just naturally polite.” He just didn’t want to see people while he was here and seemed satisfied with the companionship of Dorothy and me – not that either of us pretended to any intellectual capacity.
…
Shortly after I went out there [to the Grove Park Inn] he asked me which of his books I would like to have. I asked him which he considered his best. He said he thought Tender is the Night the best and [T]he Great Gatsby the next best. I told him I had the latter, so he got the former for me and on the fly leaf wrote the following: “For Martha Marie Shank. In memory of those happy days on the roof of Grove Park Inn. F. Scott Fitzgerald. With affection and gratitude.” At the close of one particularly hectic and nerve-wracking Sunday, when he had been particularly unmanageable, he gave me another of his books, in which he wrote the following: “For Martha Marie a gay Sun-dee. (For poor old Scott nothing so hot.) For Martha Marie a big whoop-ee. (For poor old Scott a sedative shot.) For Martha Marie (I can hardly write it, but she can hardly see so I shall indite it. F Scott Fitzgerald.”… And some other nonsense.
…
You may or may not know that while he was here he made two attempts at suicide. One was before I knew him. He had taken something and was found lying on the bathroom floor. This information is from Dorothy. The second one occurred while I was seeing him, though I was not there at the time. He called and asked me to come out and when I got there he asked Dorothy and me to be seated. This was unusual. Then he sat down, looking serious, and said, “Dorothy tell Martha Marie what I did.” Dorothy was angry and said, “All right, I’ll tell her. Scott tried to kill himself.” (She seemed to take it as a personal affront.) She then went on to tell me the details of his getting his pistol and threatening to shoot himself. There was quite a commotion. In some way she got a bellboy, who got the pistol, and Scott, in pajamas and bathrobe, chased him over the hotel. After that, the hotel refused to let him stay there by himself. If Dorothy went out, I had to be there. Dorothy thought he was serious in the attempt. While she was telling me the story he listened with all the interest of never having heard about it before. But he had little if any comment to make.
…I will stop here until I get your reaction to what I have written and find out whether it is the sort of thing you want. I could elaborate on any of the above, and there are numerous subjects not touched upon. What I have said does not at all satisfy me and does not convey the impression I wish I could give. I recognized the tragedy of his condition and would have done anything in my power to help him. Unfortunately, there was little I could do. If you care to hear further, I will send you another volume.
Sincerely yours, | http://mountainx.com/news/tuesday-history-fitzgeralds-suicide-attempts-at-the-grove-park-inn/ | en | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/e421fbfde42b7f48f5dce4c48d263bf74302c7333d9c2202ed393305cdfe4d34.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:52:54 | null | 2016-08-26T06:58:16 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fopinion%2Fthe-amazing-juggling-party%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/CARTOON-Molton-Turner-Unopposed-1100x850.jpeg | en | null | Too many candidates in the air | null | null | mountainx.com | null | http://mountainx.com/opinion/the-amazing-juggling-party/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/7b0ea049dca511429a6c96c2ae2442442a4c98e2a2e54fa989262e86ff841311.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T18:47:55 | null | 2016-03-27T11:00:21 | Whether you are an experienced or first-time gardener, the fifth annual “Get Growing” gardening series — offered by the Organic Growers School, Fifth Season Asheville Market and the Dr. John Wilson Community Garden — is here to help you step up your gardening skills. The four-part series will focus on the main aspects of organic gardening:… | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fliving%2Ffarm-garden-get-growing-with-gardening-classes%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/garden-wtrclr-1100x500.jpeg | en | null | Farm & Garden: Get growing with gardening classes | null | null | mountainx.com | Whether you are an experienced or first-time gardener, the fifth annual “Get Growing” gardening series — offered by the Organic Growers School, Fifth Season Asheville Market and the Dr. John Wilson Community Garden — is here to help you step up your gardening skills. The four-part series will focus on the main aspects of organic gardening: planning, planting, production and pests, and is being taught by Organic Growers School instructor Diana Schmitt McCall, who is also the manager at the Dr. John Wilson Community Garden in Black Mountain — a garden that produces over 4,000 pounds of produce annually.
The first three classes of the four-part series will take place at Fifth Season Asheville Market. The introductory class will cover the basics — the reasons for growing organically, garden site-and-design considerations, soil and nutrient basics, garden seasons and gardening tools. The next two classes will dig a little deeper and cover a wide range of topics including starting plants from seeds, transplanting, composting, creating edible yards, maximizing garden space, mulching, watering, fertilizing, and organic disease and pest control.
The final class of the series will take place at the Dr. John Wilson Community Garden. It will include a hands-on educational tour of the garden and provide an opportunity to review topics from the first three classes, to see gardening techniques firsthand and to build confidence.
The series will take place Tuesday evenings, April 5 – 26, from 7-9 p.m. Participants can take the whole series for $75 or take individual classes for $20. For more information or to register visit organicgrowersschool.org/. | http://mountainx.com/living/farm-garden-get-growing-with-gardening-classes/ | en | 2016-03-27T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/069bbe49e696cd89a4553930c2e973b0c8bfba034ec94df3a0cf22c315410244.json |
[
"Mass Communication Major At Unc Asheville. Freelance Writer Photographer. Snapchat Enthusiast."
] | 2016-08-28T18:47:07 | null | 2016-08-20T00:00:00 | Lights dimmed and chatter came to an expectant halt, when British technology pioneer Kevin Ashton was introduced in UNC Asheville’s Kimmel Arena on Aug. 23. Ashton is most widely known for co-founding the Auto-ID Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a research group that works with radio-frequency identification (RFID) and other sensing technologies. His speech contained elements… | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fnews%2Ftechnology-pioneer-kevin-ashton-uncovers-myths-about-creativity%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2016-08-23-kevin-ashton-64-800x534.jpg | en | null | Technology pioneer Kevin Ashton uncovers myths about creativity | null | null | mountainx.com | Lights dimmed and chatter came to an expectant halt, when British technology pioneer Kevin Ashton was introduced in UNC Asheville’s Kimmel Arena on Aug. 23. Ashton is most widely known for co-founding the Auto-ID Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a research group that works with radio-frequency identification (RFID) and other sensing technologies. His speech contained elements of his book How to Fly a Horse, which highlights myths about the creative process by pointing out technology’s slow evolution though time.
Kevin Ashton speaking at UNC Asheville. Photo by Galen McGee
“How did we get to here, and where are we going next?” Ashton asked at the start of his lecture. The first picture he showed on the screen behind him was of a simple stone, one of humanity’s first tools, noting that this early tool type remained unchanged for millennia. But at some point someone decided to improve the tool, which initiated a period of rapid change and growth. This, Ashton said, begs the question: Has humanity become more creative as it has evolved? It has not, he argued, saying the acceleration is only due to population growth.
“Population is the key to creation, creation is the key to population,” Ashton declared. “The reason we create is to survive.”
However, creativity has been misunderstood for centuries. He read aloud a letter ascribed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one quoted in many books and research papers, detailing Mozart’s creative routine of divine-like inspiration. But subsequent research, Ashton said, has revealed the letter to be a fake. In contrast to the inspiration model, Ashton pointed out how the Wright brothers’ looked back on their many flying failures that led to finding the right design that would stay in the air.
To get where we are today took “2,000 generations, a population of billions and everybody making a contribution,” Ashton said.
Furthering his argument, Ashton spoke of his own past experiences with creativity. While at MIT, he said he felt underqualified because his background wasn’t in any type of research, but rather in Scandinavian literature. “I felt like a complete fraud,” he said. “The Harry Potter books were just getting published at that time; this is how long ago this was. And it was like I had gone to Hogwarts, except I wasn’t a wizard.”
However, he said, it was this period that began fueling his inspiration for How to Fly a Horse. MIT’s environment had a huge impact on his view of creativity, Ashton said. “It was this environment that was genuinely creative, rather than magically creative,” he recalled. During that time, he realized [engineers] didn’t just wake up with a solution in their heads each morning, but with a determination to try over and over again.
Kevin Ashton speaking at UNC Asheville. Photo by Galen McGee
Following the presentation, audience members participated in a Q&A session, then journeyed upstairs for a book-signing. One member in line, Taryn Hoffman, executive director of Green Side Up Foundation, said she recently read the book as part of a book club assignment. Reflecting on certain aspects of Ashton’s speech, she said, “I think at my stage of life, without failure you don’t have success, and without disappointments, you don’t have success. And things can happen in your older years that you don’t expect, but you overcome them; you have a different life, and you have a different kind of success in your life.”
Susan Reiser, a friend of Hoffman and member of the aforementioned book club, joined Hoffman in line. Reiser, a UNCA lecturer and associate dean of natural sciences, said she chose the book for their club because it had been part of UNC Asheville’s summer reading program. Many of the book’s concepts related to the creative process she teaches in conjunction with her senior computer science and engineering projects.
Kevin Ashton at UNC Asheville. Photo by Kari Barrows
In addition to faculty and community members in the audience, there were students who were required to read the book as part of this year’s enrollment. Freshman Abril Ruiz-Lopez said she enjoyed the book and that it carried many applicable life lessons. “College and life is full of success and failures. You know, you’re never gonna always have success because that’s just not human,” Ruiz-Lopez said. “We’re not all perfect. We can’t [be]. Like the book says, we have to not be afraid of failing; we have to learn from our failures. Keep on going; keep trying, working on our creativity.”
Ashton’s last words to the audience touched on the subject of persistence. “You’re not as out of place as you feel,” he said assuredly. “You can either feel like an imposter or you can have a sense of entitlement. It is actually much more powerful to feel like an imposter, because there is humility in that and humility gives you the space to learn. So everybody deserves to be here; nobody is here by mistake; all you have to do now is prove it to yourself.” | http://mountainx.com/news/technology-pioneer-kevin-ashton-uncovers-myths-about-creativity/ | en | 2016-08-20T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/9562453cb39f3ed791190c4acc724217f9a78ffa2d8559ad3d1bd7dcb4f592a6.json |
[
"Emily Nichols Is A Writer",
"Photographer For The Mountain Xpress. She Enjoys Writing About Wellness",
"Spirituality In Wnc."
] | 2016-08-30T12:47:34 | null | 2016-08-30T07:00:58 | Hailing from the African Yoruban tradition, Chief Olu Derrick Lewis and priestess Yeye Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis will bring ceremonies, classes and prayers for the four elements to OM Sanctuary as year-long artists-in-residence. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fliving%2Fafrican-priestess-offers-healing-ceremonies-in-asheville%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/omiandolu-1100x733.jpg | en | null | African priestess offers healing ceremonies in Asheville | null | null | mountainx.com | It’s not every day that you get to sit down for peppermint tea with a fifth-generation African-Caribbean seer, a person who has visions about the future. As I approached OM Sanctuary, the designated meeting spot for an interview with Yeye Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis, the seer, and her husband, Chief Olu Derrick Lewis, I didn’t know what to expect.
In their international work with UNICEF’s Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, the couple have helped protect the world’s waterways. I also knew that they were starting a year-long partnership with OM, a retreat center located at the former Richmond Hill Inn overlooking the French Broad River.
This down-to-earth, chuckling, light-hearted couple had been on an academic track until Achikeobi-Lewis had a vision that couldn’t be ignored.
She’s an initiate in the Ifa oracular tradition, which originated in the Yoruba communities of southwestern Nigeria. “I come from a family where having visions is our gift,” says Achikeobi-Lewis. Her great grandmother and great-great-grandmother were seers. “But in the West it’s not seen as a gift; it’s seen as a madness,” she says.
In April, she had a vision that brought her to Western North Carolina. The vision delivered “a message from Oshun, the Yoruba goddess of wisdom and love, that there was a great suffering coming to earth, and it was going to be huge, bigger than any suffering we have experienced before,” she says.
Achikeobi-Lewis recalls feeling deeply disturbed, as though pain was moving through her entire body. Lewis checked with the Ifa oracle and was told to consult their priest in Nigeria. The priest agreed that her vision was indeed true.
“Part of the vision was that people are no longer listening to the ancestors, to the mother, and that this is part of the great suffering that is coming,” says Achikeobi-Lewis. “I was told to go see the oracle of the Tibetan people for answers.”
Less than three weeks later, the couple were inside a monastery in Dharamsala, India, where they met with the NeyChung Oracle of the Tibetan People, Kuten-la. He listened patiently as she recounted her vision, says Achikeobi-Lewis. Then there was a long silence, which the oracle broke by saying that “he had the exact same vision two days before I arrived,” she says.
Flabbergasted, Achikeobi-Lewis listened as Kuten-la “said that the four elemental mothers were weak and that the solution to the future of the world and alleviating the great suffering to come would be doing ceremonies of apology and forgiveness to the four elemental mothers of water, earth, fire and air.”
Local action: Praying to the elements
The couple returned to Asheville with a mission and promise to perform those ceremonies.
In the coming year, they will lead an array of ceremonies, prayers, weekly classes and free presentations at OM, spreading the message about the four elementals and putting the envisioned solution into action, says Achikeobi-Lewis.
“We hope to help lift people out of this situation we are in by using the four elemental mothers, wisdom, ceremony and sharing,” says Lewis.
Starting in September, the couple will hold a monthly water blessing at the French Broad River. Achikeobi-Lewis says that working on healing our relationship with water is foremost.
“The Ifa oracle said that water is one of the key elements in trouble,” she says, “If we can heal the water issues, we can heal the world.”
For those interested in working with the four elements within, the husband-wife team will offer classes on Thursday nights at OM Sanctuary starting in September.
“Individual action is prayer,” says Achikeobi-Lewis. “You have to be the ceremony by living in balance and love.”
All classes and public ceremonies will be multicultural and apply to all people regardless of religious tradition, she adds. “This is not about religion; it is about our humanity that crosses all boundaries,” says Achikeobi-Lewis.
“Any way that your tradition dictates to you about honoring the elements, you can do that, even if you are at a river and you pick up rubbish and say ‘thank you’ and you give some feeling of gratitude to the water for all it does to nourish your life; that is a ceremony,” she says.
For those skeptical about the four elemental mothers, Achikeobi-Lewis says this: “Essentially they are what keeps us alive.
“You can’t live without water for more than a couple of days,” says Achikeobi-Lewis. “You can’t live without air. … You can’t live without the earth. And you can’t live without fire, the sun.”
Those are the four elemental mothers, Achikeobi-Lewis explains. “They are seen as feminine principles, because it’s that which nourishes and sustains us,” she says.
In December, the couple will facilitate an ancient Oshun ceremony at OM Sanctuary. Called the Lighting of the Lights, the ceremony will honor the four elemental mothers and “represent the lighting of Oshun’s wisdom and the relighting of the wisdom of the world,” says Achikeobi-Lewis.
“We are creating a reconnection to that which sustains us,” she says. “We are like children that have been disconnected from the womb of our mother Earth, and we cannot live like that. We are getting sicker; our children are getting more disease; we are having more mental and physical issues, having more earthquakes; the temperature is going up on our planet; the waters are drying up,” says Achikeobi-Lewis.
“So it is time, time to honor, to ask for forgiveness and to remember.”
MORE INFO
OM Sanctuary
omsanctuary.org
Yeye Osun, Institute of Four Elemental Mothers
yeyeosun.com | http://mountainx.com/living/african-priestess-offers-healing-ceremonies-in-asheville/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/2bc56712f97434c9e30eb363d71b6101d1aa3d7a131a4fb98798734e26ce06c0.json |
[
"Eliza Stokes Holds A B.A. In Creative Writing",
"Global Studies Warren Wilson College. She Received The Larry Levis Award For Outstanding Manuscript On Behalf Of The Warren Wilson Mfa Program",
"Has Read For The Juniper Bends Reading Series. Stokes Is A Freelance Writer",
"Editor Based In Asheville."
] | 2016-08-31T12:47:51 | null | 2016-08-31T08:00:56 | It’s no secret that Early Girl Eatery on Wall Street prides itself on selling locally sourced Southern comfort food. But Early Girl enthusiasts might be surprised by just how local their ingredients are. In fact, when they leave the restaurant during its peak weekend brunch hours, they are likely to find Walter Harrill of Imladris… | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Ffood%2Fjam-session-seasonal-preserves-support-the-local-food-movement%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/FOODjam_story.jpg | en | null | Jam session: Seasonal preserves support the local food movement | null | null | mountainx.com | It’s no secret that Early Girl Eatery on Wall Street prides itself on selling locally sourced Southern comfort food. But Early Girl enthusiasts might be surprised by just how local their ingredients are. In fact, when they leave the restaurant during its peak weekend brunch hours, they are likely to find Walter Harrill of Imladris Farm — the man behind the jams they just smothered on their biscuits — selling his products in a cart right outside. Harrill and his business partner and wife, Wendy, produce seasonal jams from their seventh-generation family farm in Fairview only 15 miles away.
Wearing his trademark Tula hat, which, he jokes, “keeps the sun out of my eyes and off my balding head,” Harrill provides generous samples to Early Girl customers craving seconds. Inside the restaurant, his Berry Best and raspberry jams adorn the tables, and his apple butter is served with Early Girl’s hushpuppies.
Jams are not only delicious, Walter explains, they’re also a way to use produce that may not be visually pleasing enough to sell at market but is still 100 percent healthy and flavorful. Before, that fruit might have been wasted or composted, but now it can go into value-added products like jams. “It’s perfect for us,” Harrill says, pointing at the blueberry jam on his cart display. “You’d never know that a blueberry in there had a little ding in it.”
Do it yourself WHAT “Food Preservation Through the Seasons” with Chelsea Wakstein WHEN 5:30-7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11 WHERE Villagers, 278 Haywood Road DETAILS The class will offer recipes and a seasonal flow plan for preserving the harvest. Samples will be provided. Tickets are on a sliding scale of $15-$30. For details and to preregister, visit forvillagers.com.
Imladris is one of many local farms continuing the Southern Appalachian tradition of jam-making and embracing a seasonal, sustainable approach. And as restaurants in Asheville have increased interest in sourcing ingredients from area farms as part of the local food movement, farmers have found success in new markets.
Many of these farm-to-table relationships were conceived by the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, a nonprofit dedicated to building a local healthy food system in Western North Carolina. Among its many initiatives, ASAP organizes the Asheville City Market, does educational programming with children and helps introduce farmers to business owners interested in selling sustainable food.
Jessica DeMarco, who produces handcrafted jams and other artisan foods as the owner of Copper Pot & Wooden Spoon in Waynesville, calls ASAP an “invaluable connection” in helping her find local produce when she started her business five years ago. DeMarco specializes in seasonal breakfast jams as well as a line of boozy flavors, including apple pie moonshine, bourbon-blueberry and even a spiced apple and beer variety that uses the Tadpole porter from Frog Level Brewing Co.
DeMarco also designs recipe collections for her products. “Jam isn’t just for toast,” she says. “There are a lot of pairings people don’t realize.” Her latest collection will feature beer jam, bread mix, pickled jalapeños and a recipe card for beer bread corn fritters and beer jam butter.
On Aug. 16, the West Asheville Tailgate Market held its inaugural Summer Jam Festival to boost the spirits of vendors who had endured a rainy market season and to show off local jam offerings. “I wanted to do something to celebrate the summer and the literal fruits of our labor, because it’s the point in the season where our farmers have just been working so hard,” says market director Quinn Asteak. The event had live music, a kiddie pool filled with corn kernels and a jam-tasting competition where shoppers could try six local jams and vote for their favorite.
The winner was the Bears Jam entered by Sarah Decker of Root Bottom Farm, which mixes blackberries, strawberries and raspberries in a sweet but healthy combination. Root Bottom, which Decker runs with her husband, Morgan, in Marshall, is a no-spray organic farm offering jams with “twice the fruit and half the sugar” of most conventional preserves. Root Bottom jams are available in the farm’s weekly community supported agriculture boxes, as well as at ticketed farm-to-table dinners held on the property.
West Asheville’s Sunny Point Café has also been a major local food supporter from the restaurant perspective. Not only does it source whatever ingredients it can from Asheville farmers, it even maintains a garden of fresh produce and herbs right next to the restaurant, which the staff harvests for menu specials.
Sunny Point offers a regular fruit jam with its angel biscuits, and its jalapeño Oh, Hot Jam is served with the popular fried chicken and sweet potato waffle sandwich, which is then topped with pimento cheese and maple black pepper bacon. Both jams are made using Sunny Point’s recipes and ingredients but are processed and bottled by Imladris Farm. Assistant manager Noah Hermanson applauds this collaboration, noting that local foods are undeniably connected to positive community development. “Really, it comes down to the fact that you can build a whole business around supporting all these other local businesses,” he says. “The rest falls into place.”
Those who are interested in making their own jams can find supplies at many local stores, including Fifth Season, Kitchen & Co. and Villagers. And Villagers will offer an affordable class on the subject on Sunday, Sept. 11 (see sidebar).
Also, since jams are shelf-stable, they can be the perfect way for those visiting the area to support local farmers while bringing home an authentic piece of Appalachia. ASAP’s Local Food Campaign program director, Molly Nicholie, says, “To be able to offer jams that folks can take with them and have as a token of their experience here in the mountains is a great tool for connecting them to food and agriculture in the region.”
To find more sources of sustainable local produce and jams made in the Blue Ridge Mountains, ASAP’s Local Food Guide is available online at appalachiangrown.org. | http://mountainx.com/food/jam-session-seasonal-preserves-support-the-local-food-movement/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/639328094f6c00f5946c7311f6173e302cbdf4eff8d99ffb54cf997a343780f8.json |
[
"Mountain Xpress Webmaster"
] | 2016-08-29T00:47:57 | null | 2010-07-13T21:00:16 | My wife Keely and I are co-owners and managers of the new nakamal, Vanuatu Kava Bar. Although we very much appreciate the advice your publication has printed in this past week's Disclaimer, to spike our tea with LSD, we regretfully decline. Given the expected results of kava consumption (relaxation, euphoria) we have instead taken to… | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2Fattention_asheville_disclaimer_and_the_apd_kava_bar_does_not_spike_drinks_w%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/themes/mx/img/logo-default.svg | en | null | Attention Asheville Disclaimer (and the APD): Kava bar does not spike drinks with LSD | null | null | mountainx.com | My wife Keely and I are co-owners and managers of the new nakamal, Vanuatu Kava Bar. Although we very much appreciate the advice your publication has printed in this past week's Disclaimer, to spike our tea with LSD, we regretfully decline. Given the expected results of kava consumption (relaxation, euphoria) we have instead taken to spiking it with heroin and/or barbiturates. Although I hear LSD goes well with kava, securing it would amount to a separate request from the barkeep and, of course, a slightly additional charge.
Disclaimer: We do not actually spike our kava with anything. Seriously. We carry the most potent varieties of organic, fair-trade kavas in the world, and believe the effects speak for themselves.
If individuals still want/need LSD (or heroin), they must, given the legal status [of the drugs], regretfully, seek other sources, as we are trying hard to maintain the veneer of being legitimate business people.
But thanks so much for the tip! (And the laugh.)
— Andrew Procyk
Vanuatu Kava Bar
Asheville | http://mountainx.com/opinion/letters/attention_asheville_disclaimer_and_the_apd_kava_bar_does_not_spike_drinks_w/ | en | 2010-07-13T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/fd0d0c5892e3f4af679af71d364798793d066f6736c7a57bd8c550d10decf46d.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T22:47:44 | null | 2016-08-14T00:00:00 | Wicked Weed's collaboration with Creature Comforts hits distribution, breweries benefit the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and Thirsty Fest 2016 kicks off. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fnews%2Fbeer-today-gone-tomorrow-asheville-beer-happenings-aug-30-sept-5%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/14184370_1061041153991601_3955317100273115602_n.jpg | en | null | Beer today, gone tomorrow: Asheville beer happenings Aug. 30-Sept. 5 | null | null | mountainx.com | Beer Today, Gone Tomorrow is the one-stop home for Asheville-area beer news. Check back throughout the week for updates and send your own to wncbeertoday@gmail.com.
Bottle/can releases
Following its release at the Funkatorium last Saturday, bottles of, Wicked Weed Brewing‘s collaboration with Athens, Ga.-based Creature Comforts Brewing Co., are expected to hit specialty retail shelves this week. As the name would imply, Juiceless is a fruit-forward IPA brewed entirely without fruit, deriving all fruit notes from its hop bill.
Bolo Coconut Brown will return on draft and in 16 -ounce cans on Friday, Sept. 2, at the Burial Beer Co. taproom and specialty retailers.
will return on draft and in 16 -ounce cans on Friday, Sept. 2, at the Burial Beer Co. taproom and specialty retailers. On Saturday, Sept. 3, Burial Beer Co. will release Adoration of the Mystic Lamb Session Brett fermented with 100 percent brettanomyces, dry-hopped with Galaxy hops and bottle conditioned for two months on fruit nectar. Bottles will be for sale at the indoor and patio bars. The 750-milliliter bottles will cost $14 each and will not see distribution. There is no purchase limit.
Small-batch beers
Brewed in collaboration with the Pink Boots Society, Asheville Brewing Co. brings back its 5 percent ABV Apricot Gose at both brewpubs Friday, Sept. 2, at 5 p.m. Pink Boots Apricot Gose is brewed with Azacca hops, coriander seed, and pink Himalayan sea salt with apricot purée.
is brewed with Azacca hops, coriander seed, and pink Himalayan sea salt with apricot purée. Twin Leaf Brewery is releasing a Blackberry Basil Saison , a 5.8 precent ABV light pink saison brewed with fresh blackberries and African basil from Rayburn Farms.
, a 5.8 precent ABV light pink saison brewed with fresh blackberries and African basil from Rayburn Farms. Boojum Brewing Co. in Waynesville releases Hop Fiend IPA on draft at the taproom and through distribution. Hop Fiend is 6.5 percent ABV, 80 IBU IPA hopped with Mosaic, Simcoe and Citra.
Special events | http://mountainx.com/news/beer-today-gone-tomorrow-asheville-beer-happenings-aug-30-sept-5/ | en | 2016-08-14T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/e4f9415c45523e43ce94fc9a484cd434bbd10c8effe58d062233618133d19266.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T02:48:22 | null | 2016-08-30T16:58:30 | Independent news, arts, events and information for Asheville and Western North Carolina. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fblogwire%2Fwarren-wilson-college-and-unc-asheville-named-among-the-princeton-reviews-best-381-colleges%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/themes/mx/img/logo-default.svg | en | null | Warren Wilson College and UNC Asheville named among The Princeton Review’s “Best 381 Colleges” | null | null | mountainx.com | Press release from Warren Wilson College:
Brian Wuertz ’18, biology professor Alisa Hove and Savannah Stark ’16 at work in the genetics lab at Warren Wilson, one of The Princeton Review’s “Best 381 Colleges.” Photo by Reggie Tidwell/Warren Wilson College
Each year, more than 2,500 four-year institutions seek to make their case to high schoolers in hopes of influencing their answer to one question—“where am I going to college?” While it may seem impossible to get an unbiased opinion about a college or university, independent organizations, like The Princeton Review, are tapping into campus culture and providing a clear collegiate picture through student surveys.
Since 1992, The Princeton Review has identified the nation’s finest centers of higher learning in its annual “Best Colleges” book. Based on its students’ individual responses to 80 survey questions, Warren Wilson College is one of the nation’s top institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review. The College makes the 2017 “Best 381 Colleges” list alongside Columbia University, Duke University, Harvard University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of South Carolina.
“Warren Wilson College continues to offer students a rigorous academic curriculum combined with the chance to apply their new knowledge in an experiential learning environment,” said Warren Wilson College President Steve Solnick. “Scholarship enhanced through applied learning – on-campus work and engagement in the community through service – helps set a bar that organizations like The Princeton Review recognize among the most transformative schools in the United States.”
Solnick’s comments are echoed by The Princeton Review’s senior VP-publisher. “Warren Wilson College’s outstanding academics are the chief reason we chose it for this book, and we strongly recommend it to applicants,” said Robert Franek, who is also the author of the “Best 381 Colleges” book.
While being part of the upper 15 percent of America’s four-year institutions is significant, student respondents provide even more insight. As in previous years, The Princeton Review identified the top schools for various categories based on student answers to the survey questions.
For example, students were asked if College community members “treat all persons equally regardless of their sexual orientations and gender identity/expression?” The responses placed Warren Wilson College third on the list of 20 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ)-friendly schools for 2017. The Asheville campus was one of two southern colleges and the only one in North Carolina included in the rankings.
In a nod to the community engagement requirement, which has been in place since 1959, students propelled Warren Wilson to No. 13 on the list of schools “most engaged in community service.” In a given year, undergraduates collectively contribute more than 50,000 hours of service to 255 community partners. Other schools in the top 20 service-related list include Tulane University, Boston College, Loyola Marymount University and the United States Naval Academy.
“[Before] coming here, I had never been engaged on this level with the community,” said Tayla Clark, a junior and member of the Community Engagement Center work crew. Through service, she was better able to connect to the area and “help people in [her] community.”
Being recognized for inclusiveness and engagement in the community through service by The Princeton Review is a point of pride for Janelle Holmboe, vice president for enrollment. These are some of the qualities she seeks in new students.
Tayla Clark ’18, left, and Emma Noel ’18 clean and restock shelves at Loving Food Resources during Service Day. Warren Wilson College is No. 13 on The Princeton Review’s list of schools “most engaged in community service.” Photo by Jason Faulds/Warren Wilson College
“We champion these two areas, among others,” Holmboe said. “We are known as a place dedicated to providing a well-rounded education for everyone. As a liberal arts college, Warren Wilson must provide a forum for people of all walks of life to engage with, learn from and care for their fellow citizens. This is a story we often share, but it’s invigorating to have it verified by an organization like The Princeton Review.”
Undergraduate voices are also heard through the “survey says” sidebar included with the book’s profile on the College. There, The Princeton Review lists the topics that create the most agreement between students. According to their survey answers, students indicate they are “happy,” “environmentally aware” and fond of the Asheville area.
“I really like [living in a] small community,” said junior biology major Emma Noel. “I like feeling connected to the people around me. That’s also a big thing in the classroom; I like having a relationship with my [professor]. So, Warren Wilson was the one.”
The lists in the 25th “Best Colleges” edition, which is on sale now, are entirely based on The Princeton Review’s survey of 143,000 students attending the colleges. The survey asks students to rate their schools on several topics and report on their campus experiences. Topics range from their assessments of their professors as teachers to opinions about their school’s library, career services and student body’s political leanings.
Through its website, The Princeton Review presents additional lists and rankings not found in the 2017 “Best Colleges” book. The site includes Warren Wilson in the “Best Southeastern” schools list, making it one of 76 to also be listed among the “Best 381 Colleges” in the nation. The College also ranks No. 17 in the 2015 “Guide to 353 Green Colleges,” which is the highest position of any southern institution.
For more information, visit http://princetonreview.com/best381.
Press release from UNC Asheville:
UNC Asheville Students. Photo courtesy of UNCA
UNC Asheville, named in February by The Princeton Review as the nation’s top school “for making an impact,” is also featured in 2017 edition of The Best 381 Colleges, released today by the same publisher. The Princeton Review’s best 381 colleges and universities were selected primarily based on academic strength, from more than 2,000 on which data are collected. The descriptions of each college in the guidebook are based on a survey of 143,000 students who provide candid assessments of their schools.
One UNC Asheville student told The Princeton Review that the university is dedicated to “giving students a very diverse education and experience while still emphasizing a focus on [their] areas of interest.” Another quoted in The Best 381 Colleges said that UNC Asheville is “all about creating a positive, creative and open learning community to prepare students to be socially aware, productive members of society.”
UNC Asheville professors, according to students quoted, are “incredibly smart, kind and compassionate,” and the “small liberal arts atmosphere ensures that every student who wants to has the opportunity to create relationships with professors and get research and internship opportunities that would be more exclusive at other schools.”
Students told The Princeton Review that while outdoor recreation in the nearby mountains, rivers and national forests are an important part of student life, one notable thing about campus culture is that there isn’t just one thing. “There are so many diverse clubs I couldn’t list them all. There isn’t really one big thing that everyone is interested in,” said one student quoted in The Best 381 Colleges. “Conformity is not a word that will come to mind at UNCA,” said another. Students described their peers as “fun, quirky, open-minded, adventurous, nature and peace-loving, and cognizant.”
UNC Asheville received an overall “quality of life” rating of 94 (scale maximum is 99), with students noting that Asheville “has so much to offer downtown and the food, especially, is amazing.”
UNC Asheville’s national top ranking for “Best Schools for Making an Impact” came in The Princeton Review’s February 2016 college guidebook, Colleges that Pay You Back. The university also is ranked as one of the nation’s top public liberal arts colleges, listed eight nationally by U.S. News and World Report. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance calls UNC Asheville a “Best College Value,” and Fiske Guide to Colleges names the university a “Best Buy.”
For more information, visit unca.edu/facts-and-figures. | http://mountainx.com/blogwire/warren-wilson-college-and-unc-asheville-named-among-the-princeton-reviews-best-381-colleges/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/fc0c14a83d21d7dc0abae026ab581f75d5759b5808e0ddacf440828c7f828457.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:53:53 | null | 2016-08-25T18:32:31 | Looking to build some muscle and/or shed some poundage this fall? Want to build that confidence at Vitality Fitness, voted Best Fitness Studio by our readers? Well here’s an opportunity to put that plan into action with one of WNC’s favorite physical trainers! Taija Ventrella was voted third best Physical Trainer in Mountain Xpress’ 2016 Best Of… | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fpromo%2Fspecial-deal-shape-up-with-one-of-the-best-physical-trainers-in-wnc-at-the-best-fitness-studio%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Personal_Trainer_Group_Exercise_Vitality_Fitness_Asheville2-1100x828.jpg | en | null | Special deal! Shape up with one of the Best Physical Trainers in WNC at the Best Fitness Studio | null | null | mountainx.com | Looking to build some muscle and/or shed some poundage this fall? Want to build that confidence at Vitality Fitness, voted Best Fitness Studio by our readers?
Well here’s an opportunity to put that plan into action with one of WNC’s favorite physical trainers! Taija Ventrella was voted third best Physical Trainer in Mountain Xpress’ 2016 Best Of WNC readers poll. And she wants to thank you for that honor by giving all Mountain Xpress readers an exclusive deal. You can have 2 sessions with her per week for a whole month for just $30 ($150 value).
Interested? Just comment below before midnight on August 29 and we’ll submit your user name so that you can walk in at Vitality Fitness and claim your deal. Just tell them your username, and they’ll hook you up. Don’t forget to share this deal with your friends so that you can all get in on it together. | http://mountainx.com/promo/special-deal-shape-up-with-one-of-the-best-physical-trainers-in-wnc-at-the-best-fitness-studio/ | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/53de3d36577fe9f257ce19c4318c19f6d751fab1e735769f9d196c82bb0e6e06.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T00:47:31 | null | 2016-08-19T16:39:28 | In an upcoming issue Xpress will feature 12 people who are making Asheville, and the surrounding area, a better place to live. However, these won't be the typical names associated with influencing the city. We're seeking the overlooked, and need your nominations. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fnews%2Fwanted-nominations-for-ashevilles-hidden-influencers%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Purple-Logo.png | en | null | Wanted: Nominations for Asheville’s hidden influencers | null | null | mountainx.com | Mountain Xpress is working on a special upcoming issue about Asheville’s new influencers: The next wave of people who are making the city and county a better place to live.
We want nominations from individuals who are embedded in the community to help us identify residents who are creating positive change at the grassroots level.
We’re looking for nominees who’d rather roll up their sleeves than receive an award. We want to make sure we don’t overlook people who are off the radar, the oft-involved but seldom recognized, the young and the new arrivals.
While we appreciate the folks who are often at the forefront when we talk about the area’s most influential people, they already get enough ink. Instead of the popular politician, we’re looking for that unrelenting but overlooked bureaucrat helping to make her department run smoothly for citizens. Rather than focus on the high-profile business leader, we hope to shine a light on the one silently using his resources to help underserved populations. Rather than applaud the school system’s Teacher of the Year, let’s celebrate the service staff member who helps keep the school running and puts a smile on the students’ faces. You get the picture.
Xpress is looking for people in the following categories:
• Politics/Government
• Business
• Education
• Philanthropy
• Civil rights and activism
• Environmental stewardship
Nominating a candidate is easy! Just email us at dhesse@mountainx.com:
1. Name of person
2. Name of their organization
3. The person’s role, e.g., whether they volunteer, work for or are the
founder of the organization
4. Category for which you’re nominating the person
5. Nominee’s contact information
6. A brief statement about how you think the person is influencing Asheville
Please send nominations by Friday, Sep. 2.
Our judges will make the final decision and highlight 12 winners in an upcoming issue. | http://mountainx.com/news/wanted-nominations-for-ashevilles-hidden-influencers/ | en | 2016-08-19T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/b1be196ca108ccd033e86b57701b1e85b8bf655496805bf8f65b7fa6f6e4cfef.json |
[
"City Government Reporter. Native Of Wnc. Crazy For Swing Dancing",
"Walking Around Asheville. Tweet Me Your Political News"
] | 2016-08-28T20:47:06 | null | 2016-08-28T15:00:47 | The die is cast: a $74 million bond referendum will appear on Asheville voters' General Election ballots in November. What uses has the city proposed for the money and, if the referendum passes, how will that spending affect different parts of the city? | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fnews%2Fclose-to-home-mapping-ashevilles-bond-referendum%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/AVL-CITY-MAP-VIDAFFRON-08.24.16-mx.jpg | en | null | Close to home: Mapping Asheville’s bond referendum | null | null | mountainx.com | With its unanimous vote on Aug. 9, City Council cleared the last official hurdle needed to place a general obligation bond referendum on Asheville voters’ ballots in November. Council gave the nod to a $74 million bond question that includes $32 million in transportation infrastructure, $25 million to support affordable housing development and $17 million for parks and recreation facilities. On Election Day (or during early voting), Asheville voters can opt for or against each category separately.
Now that the bond referendum is a go, voters are considering how the proposed spending will be spread around the city and what it will accomplish. While the city will have some flexibility in how it uses the money in each category — and even whether to draw on the full amount — Mayor Esther Manheimer noted on July 26 that it’s important to “spend the money on what we say we will spend it on.” The mayor has been giving presentations on the referendum to community groups, and she says the city should “stick to the plan” that it has laid out.
Around town
Two of the bond categories, transportation infrastructure and parks and recreation, include specific plans at locations around Asheville. Using a list of the projects and their locations developed by city staff, Xpress analyzed the proposed spending to determine how the bond funds will benefit different areas.
Not surprisingly, the center of Asheville — which boasts the highest population density in Buncombe County and contributes the largest share of city and county property taxes — accounts for the largest amount of bond spending, with $12.7 million, or 26 percent of the $49 million total for infrastructure and parks and recreation. Two projects make up the lion’s share of central Asheville’s booty: the $4.65 million second phase of the Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, which will add a gym, program rooms and outdoor facilities for recreation to the facility on Livingston Street; and a $4 million renovation at Memorial Stadium, which will improve parking, accessibility, bleacher seating, walkways, concession areas, restrooms and the ticket booth.
DIVIDING THE PIE: With $3.6 million in funding for the proposed Swannanoa River Greenway boosting its share of the spoils, East Asheville appears set to win big if the bond passes. But with 16 percent of the bond proceeds unallocated, it’s too soon to say who will get the best deal. Graphic by Jordy Isenhour
East Asheville will receive the second-largest chunk of funding, with $10.3 million going to the area, or 21 percent. The big-ticket items in East Asheville include a 2-mile section of the Swannanoa River Greenway from South Tunnel Road to Azalea Park ($3.6 million); resurfacing Kenilworth Road ($1.9 million), Cisco Road ($490,000), Caledonia Road ($450,000), Beverly Road ($360,000) and Chiles Avenue ($340,000); new sidewalks on New Haw Creek Road ($1.1 million) and Swannanoa River Road ($756,000); and 10 new bus shelters ($250,000).
West Asheville is in line for $8 million (16 percent), with $1.4 million tagged for new sidewalks on Johnston Boulevard; $1.9 million for resurfacing and sidewalk repairs on State Street; and $900,000 and $840,000 for resurfacing Old Haywood and Sulphur Springs roads, respectively. New restrooms and an information kiosk are proposed for Richmond Hill Park, at a cost of $520,000.
South Asheville will get $6 million, or 12 percent of the total. The area nets more than its northern counterpart, which critics sometimes claim gets an unequal share of city resources due to the significant numbers of elected officials who have historically hailed from that part of town. Road resurfacing makes up most of South Asheville’s bond-related initiatives, including resurfacing on Caribou Road ($1.7 million) and Brooklyn Road ($650,000), both of which are in the Shiloh neighborhood. Southern sidewalks will also receive attention, with $702,000 going to sidewalk improvements on All Souls Crescent and $510,000 to new sidewalks on Airport Road. Another $825,000 is allocated for facilities at Jake Rusher Park near Royal Pines, including a picnic shelter and restrooms, as well as improvements to the park’s playground, parking area and gazebo.
At $3.8 million, North Asheville will receive the smallest slice of the pie, about 8 percent of the total. $1.7 million of those dollars will pay for improvements to the Montford Recreation Center, while $1.3 million will go to resurfacing Lakeshore Drive. Hill Street will see $468,000 of sidewalk improvements, and Wembley and Osborne roads near Beaver Lake will each get about $36,000 for traffic-calming measures.
In the parks and recreation category, $5.2 million in requested funding has not yet been allocated to specific locations, with $2 million tagged for projects at outdoor courts and playgrounds, $2 million for land acquisition for future parks and $1.2 million for ball field lighting.
In the transportation infrastructure category, $1 million is earmarked for general greenway connections, linkages and extensions; $1.5 million has been set aside for road resurfacing contingencies, and $260,000 is dedicated to sidewalk improvement contingencies.
Zooming out to look at the city as a whole, the $32 million transportation bond package is expected to create 16 miles of resurfaced roads (with bike lanes on several resurfaced sections); 8 miles of sidewalk improvements (including Americans with Disabilities Act compliance); 4 miles of new sidewalks; and safety improvements that include new pedestrian crossing signals, speed humps on 8 miles of city streets and new bus shelters.
Overall, $8 million, or 16 percent of the total infrastructure and parks and recreation funds, remains unallocated to specific projects. Dawa Hitch, the city’s communications director, explains that, if the bond is approved by voters, those funds will be distributed throughout the city. And if residents don’t see their street or pet project on the list of bond items, Hitch continues, they shouldn’t assume there’s no money set aside for that purpose. “We are close to rolling out an interactive online tool to show the full scope of current city projects,” she says. The map-based application will show spending planned through the city’s $150 million, five-year capital improvement plan, as well as projects proposed for bond financing.
City Transportation Director Ken Putnam points out that state rules governing the use of bond funds do allow the city flexibility in the projects it will fund in each category. If the city can’t secure the right of way to build a specific sidewalk or bus shelter, for example, it can apply the funding to another transportation infrastructure priority. Since the city has a large backlog of identified street and sidewalk needs, Putnam says, there’s no shortage of worthwhile ways to use the funds.
Affordable housing
Compared to the infrastructure and parks bond packages, the $25 million affordable housing package is a horse of a different color. Rather than funding specific projects, the bond program will inject capital into the city’s affordable housing trust fund, which provides low-interest loans to selected affordable housing development proposals. According to Councilman Gordon Smith, who chairs Council’s Housing and Community Development Committee, efforts are already underway to review and potentially expand trust fund programs. Though existing policies could be used to deploy the bond funding, “We are more likely to adapt and grow the program if we end up with bond money in there,” Smith says.
Since the end of the recession, the housing trust fund has concentrated its resources on funding rental housing. Asheville’s efforts have yielded more units than any other city in North Carolina has managed to create, Smith explains. Even so, the number of residential units the city is building falls far short of local demand. According to a 2015 housing needs assessment prepared by Bowen National Research, Asheville will face a shortage of 3,580 rental units for households earning 120 percent or less of area median income by 2020. At the city’s current rate of new affordable rental housing construction of 100 to 200 units per year, “We’re still drowning,” Smith says.
In addition to promoting rental housing development, Smith continues, money in the trust fund could also be used to support new homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income families. Those homes needn’t be limited to single-family structures, he explains; housing types could include duplexes, triplexes, co-housing and tiny home communities.
According to Hitch, $10 million of the $25 million affordable housing bond total will supplement the trust fund.
MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME: If the bond referendum passes, it will give a big boost to the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Since the 2013-14 fiscal year, the city has contributed $500,000 from its general fund to the trust fund annually, so the potential infusion of $10 million represents a large increase in the amount of capital the fund would have at its disposal. Current plans would reserve $15 million for reusing city-owned property for affordable housing development. Graphic by Jordy Isenhour
Bond money could also help expand efforts to reuse city-owned land located in areas convenient to transit, employment and services, Smith and Hitch both say.
One project already underway, Smith points out, is the redevelopment of the former city parks maintenance facility at 338 Hilliard Ave. If approved by City Council, Tribute Companies of Wilmington will build 60 units at varying levels of affordability on that site. The only other company to respond to the city’s request for proposals for the property (Kassinger Development Group of Charleston, S.C.) proposed dedicating only half the new units as affordable housing, while the other units would rent at market rates, says Jeff Staudinger, the city’s assistant director for community and economic development.
Hitch says $15 million of the affordable housing bond total will support the redevelopment of city-owned land for affordable housing, with parcels on South Charlotte Street the primary focus of that effort. The property currently houses city fleet and transit services, which would be relocated to make way for housing development.
Smith adds that land banking — purchasing land for affordable housing development — is another strategy the city could adopt. The city could reserve some cash for “when those [land purchasing] opportunities arise, whether it’s a big home run like the Innsbruck Mall property, or smaller, locationally efficient properties that would also be suitable,” he explains.
Considering that the city will have seven years to allocate and spend the bond funding, Smith says, if the affordable housing portion of the referendum passes, “We have time to build a program, and to let the building community know what we are trying to do, so that they can come and meet us along the way.”
Still to come
While this article considers the “spending” part of the bond equation, there’s also the “paying” question. Future Xpress coverage will look at such issues as how long the city will have to pay its bond bill, how much Asheville will pay in interest and how the city will manage so many new projects. | http://mountainx.com/news/close-to-home-mapping-ashevilles-bond-referendum/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/b47821a49b4159350f1647199dbd173fdd14d0aaf36faf0e88d0d0800bb1a4a4.json |
[
"Music Journalist",
"Historian",
"Collector",
"Musician. In That Order"
] | 2016-08-26T12:56:40 | null | 2016-08-23T13:00:30 | The Stand Against HB2 concert at The Orange Peel will be a marathon event featuring more than 15 N.C.-based performers. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Farts%2Fnc-musicians-host-fundraising-concert-to-battle-hb2%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/StandAgainstHB2.jpg | en | null | N.C. musicians host fundraising concert to battle HB2 | null | null | mountainx.com | Photos, clockwise from top left, by Audrey Hermon Kopp, courtesy of Down Up Down Music Inc., courtesy of Fireside Collective and courtesy of Stephanie Morgan
Taking full advantage of its first majority in North Carolina government in decades, the state Republican Party has pushed through a conservative legislative agenda. Among the most high-profile — and contentious — of the initiatives has been the passage of House Bill 2, the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, widely known as HB2. Opposition to the bill has been widespread, and across the state a coalition of musicians has banded together to host a series of “Stand Against HB2” benefit concerts, including one at The Orange Peel on Sunday, Aug. 28.
That show will be a marathon event, running from 3 p.m. until midnight, and will feature more than 15 North Carolina-based performers, including local artists Gary Jules, Fireside Collective and — in her first post-stephaniesid show — vocalist Stephanie Morgan.
“I’m not much of a protester,” Morgan admits. “I like to help build momentum for something I like [instead of working] against something that has a lot of momentum moving in the opposite direction.” Being involved in the Stand Against HB2 concerts, she says, allows her to “be part of the build.”
North Carolina is home to “a really resilient community of artists and creatives, people who know how to make things happen,” says pop artist Brett Harris, from Durham, who will play the Asheville concert and is also a veteran of two other Stand Against HB2 shows. “We’ve seen it time and again with Moral Monday protests and the North Carolina Music Love Army: We don’t go away quietly.”
Harris continues, “As a person of faith, I’m deeply offended by what I see going on.” He considers HB2 “completely antithetical to the gospel that I read and try to live by.” In the face of what he characterizes as a “breeding ground for hate,” he believes, “the only thing we can do is to speak love.”
While there are many components to the controversial law, the two provisions within it generating the most controversy are one that strips local governments of the authority to make and enact their own anti-discrimination laws, and another that requires all persons to use only those public restrooms that correspond with their gender as designated at birth. To address that issue, there are two transgender speakers on the bill, Candis Cox and Lara Americo, says organizer Mike Allen. Plus, “Someone’s Sister is an LGBTQ band, as is shirlette ammons.”
Even among professional musicians opposed to HB2, there has been a variety of responses. Bruce Springsteen led the way for a boycott of North Carolina. In a statement announcing cancellation of a Greensboro date, he wrote, “To my mind, [HB2 is] an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress. … Some things are more important than a rock show, and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them.”
Singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile took a different approach. Characterizing the law as “thinly veiled legislation … that permits the discrimination of my LGBTQ brothers and sisters in N.C.,” she said that “to cancel my shows in N.C. would further oppress my fans who are hurt by this legislation.” Carlile will perform at The Meadow (at Highland Brewing Co.) on Saturday, Sept. 10.
Many musicians based in North Carolina would also like to see HB2 repealed but often depend upon gigs in their home state for their livelihood — hence this series of concerts aimed at changing the legislation. The first Stand Against HB2 show took place at the Haw River Ballroom near Chapel Hill and raised a little over $20,000, says Allen.
“You don’t have to be a musician to help,” he points out. Allen volunteered to steward the concert series, designating funds raised to benefit Equality NC, a statewide organization that raises awareness about issues affecting the LBGTQ community. “I’m not a musician. I’m just a guy. And I want my state back,” Allen says.
The adverse effects of the bill extend well beyond the LGBTQ community, says Matt Hirschy, Equality NC’s director of advancement. He calls HB2 “a bill that has cost our state hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue, whether that be tax revenue, spending or earned revenue from events.” Hirschy describes Equality NC’s mission to “advocate, elect and educate North Carolinians to a pro-equality mindset. Show proceeds go directly to those efforts as we move into [elections in] November.”
Hirschy appreciates the varying principled stands musicians are taking on the hot-button topic of HB2. “At the end of the day, the artists who come from out of state to perform here, or choose to boycott the state, are doing so because they feel strongly about the issue,” he says. “It’s a very serious decision for folks like Bruce Springsteen to make a call and cancel their show. But I also support artists who want to come here and play here and invest in groups that are working to make North Carolina a better place.”
WHAT: Stand Against HB2: North Carolina Musicians United for Equality NC
WHERE: The Orange Peel, 101 Biltmore Ave., theorangepeel.net
WHEN: Sunday, Aug. 28, 3 p.m.-midnight. $15 advance/$20 day of show | http://mountainx.com/arts/nc-musicians-host-fundraising-concert-to-battle-hb2/ | en | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/6145ee5340332325816b0f47c3256cdcce4bca8c5abd93487824bd2a61175d3d.json |
[
"Kat Studied Entrepreneurship",
"Music Business At The University Of Miami",
"Earned Her Mba At Appalachian State University."
] | 2016-08-27T16:46:50 | null | 2016-08-27T11:41:30 | Multiple artists are performing at Sounds for Recovery, a benefit event for Buncombe County's Veterans Treatment Court, Sobriety Court and Adult Drug Treatment Court. The gathering takes place at First Presbyterian Church on Thursday, Sept. 1. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Farts%2Fconscious-party-sounds-for-recovery%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Hello-My-Name-Is...-1100x492.jpg | en | null | Conscious party: Sounds for Recovery | null | null | mountainx.com | WHAT: A benefit concert for Buncombe County’s Veterans Treatment Court, Sobriety Court and Adult Drug Treatment Court
WHERE: First Presbyterian Church
WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 1, from 7-9:30 p.m.
WHY: In addition to the goal of treating and rehabilitating, rather than incarcerating, citizens, Buncombe County’s Veterans Treatment Court, Sobriety Court and Adult Drug Treatment Court are in pursuit of greater financial sustainability. “And we’re trying to be creative about how we do that,” says probation/parole officer James Lewis, “because we live in a community [where] the culture is very entertainment-focused.”
Accordingly, the courts’ inaugural Sounds for Recovery event hinges on live sets by local musicians like Malcolm Holcombe, George Terry, Io Trio, Aaron Price, The Bluebirds and Raising Caine.” Several [acts] are connected to recovery and have their own stories,” Lewis says. Others were simply eager to participate.
Visual art, too, will be on display, specifically the Hello My Name Is… portrait series by Douglas Lail. Early in his departure from addiction, the local artist began pairing black-and-white drawings of his recovering peers with their quotes or backstories. The project grew from a handful of pensive depictions to dozens of them, earning financial support from Kickstarter backers and the Asheville Area Arts Council.
For spoken programming, court participants will recount personal experiences, and organizers plan to honor National Overdose Awareness Day (Aug. 31) and National Recovery Month (September) before adjourning.
“We’ll also be sharing about the [court] programs themselves — what they offer, success stories. … We ultimately want to raise awareness of what the county and our state are doing. It’s a progressive approach to criminal justice and corrections to address people’s individual needs from a treatment perspective, rather than just treating them as a docket,” Lewis explains. “But mainly, we want to offer a good night of music for a good cause.”
Admission to Sounds for Recovery costs $35 and includes a commemorative T-shirt. Visit soundsforrecovery.eventbrite.com for tickets or further information. | http://mountainx.com/arts/conscious-party-sounds-for-recovery/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/467be5056c6bb2ba368c4162016da66dc1a9e7b022d5fadedb0be201e1534d0f.json |
[
"We Want To Hear You",
"Send Your Letters",
"Commentary To Letters Mountainx.Com"
] | 2016-08-29T18:47:24 | null | 2016-08-29T14:30:23 | "First, how are we viewing people who are incarcerated? Are they to be considered human beings with rights to evolve as anyone else, and, if so, is due consideration to be given (as policy) as to the how of this?" | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fopinion%2Fletter-writer-creative-thinking-needed-in-prison-issue%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/X_letters-1100x734.jpg | en | null | Letter writer: Creative thinking needed in prison issue | null | null | mountainx.com | I would like to address the [commentary] entitled, “Bottling Up Religious Freedom; Inmates Have Rights to Rites” from the July 27 issue of the Mountain Xpress, which aroused particular questions in me — each of equal value.
First, how are we viewing people who are incarcerated? Are they to be considered human beings with rights to evolve as anyone else, and, if so, is due consideration to be given (as policy) as to the how of this?
Second, and of equal importance, how do we “interpret” guidelines, laws, etc., if we are holding responsible positions? Can we think in the moment as to the efficacy of a determinative action and/or interpretation of the situation at hand?
I will cite two examples that perhaps could have had more sensible and helpful results.
The first from the Aug. 3 edition of the Mountain Xpress, page 24, “News of the Weird,” whereby a motorist was given a traffic fine of $178 for not having his seatbelt buckled as he leaned over to see if he could assist a begging, homeless person — who happened to be a police officer!
The second from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago, Volume 2, page 214, citing a seriously ill person with severe diarrhea: “Dr. S. refused to put P.K. (prisoner) in the hospital because he did not conform to the norm: every half hour and bleeding.”
Certainly alcohol can inhibit the higher qualities of any human being when abused; however, one could imagine a more reasonable assessment of the situation, as portrayed in the above-mentioned article, could lead to a more “human” result, if I could say it so.
This is not written with the intent to cast aspersions, but to focus on how we may respond to directives with individual creative assessment and thinking.
— Patti Corozine
Burnsville | http://mountainx.com/opinion/letter-writer-creative-thinking-needed-in-prison-issue/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/3fcf98170a0cd78f97442a9c468b50747df2e4e595ae3da8a0ad2f4d540d4109.json |
[
"Native Asheville Writer",
"Eater",
"Drinker",
"Bartender",
"Musician. Proprietor Of Www.Dirty-Spoon.Com"
] | 2016-08-26T12:47:13 | null | 2016-08-24T12:04:43 | Isis and the Rankin Vault topped a field of fierce competitors at this year's local burger showdown. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Ffood%2Ffrom-the-front-lines-the-third-annual-wnc-battle-of-the-burger%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/BurgerBattle2016.png | en | null | From the front lines: The third annual WNC Battle of the Burger | null | null | mountainx.com | When the smoke finally cleared, there were clear winners and clear losers at the 2016 WNC Battle of the Burger. Now in its third year, the competition was held Aug. 21 at the Salvage Station, with 10 restaurants and food trucks duking it out under white tents in between cloudbursts and the intense August sun.
VIP ticket holders were granted bottomless beer and complimentary burgers from each of the competitors. The battle itself was split into two categories — one evaluated by attendees and the the other by a panel of judges.
In addition to myself, this year’s Battle of the Burger judges included Stephen Steidle of Eating Asheville food tours, Mackensy Lunsford of the Asheville Citizen-Times, chef Duane Fernandes of Isa’s Bistro and Evan Donavan of WLOS. The judging was blind with entries served anonymously on color-coded plates. At Lunsford’s suggestion, our evaluations were categorized into two 10-point scores — one for execution and the other for flavor — resulting in a possible 20-point total. That way, even if a burger had poor presentation or simply seemed unappetizing but tasted great, the scores balanced each other out. And right out of the gate, that strategy proved necessary.
The first burger was a hammered patty and cheese served on a quarter-loaf of French bread. It seemed underwhelming pending that first bite, but the simple combination of three cheeses and a perfectly seasoned patty took the humble presentation to the next level flavor-wise. The resulting score gave Decrepit Old Geezer’s Sausages — or D.O.G.S. — food truck a comfortable third-place finish.
Another simple but nearly elegant presentation came from The Real Food Truck, with its nicely buttered bun, lettuce, caramelized onions, Swiss cheese, mayo, perfectly ripe tomato and some kind of magical sauce. But what really sold the burger — and what turned out to be the deciding factor in a lot of the scoring — was the seasoning of the patty itself. Real Food placed a solid second.
The winner, again, came down to that question of seasoning. The burger from Isis Restaurant was the last one served to our table of bloated, overfed, meat-sweating judges. It came on a drab brown paper plate and was topped with thick bacon, lettuce, cheese and mayonnaise with a bread-and-butter pickle speared to the bun. With our first bites, we all seemed to unanimously say, “That’s the one.”
The winner of the judges’ award each year is entered into the World Food Championships. Isis will go on to compete for the national title in November in Orange Beach, Ala. Previous competitions have been held in Las Vegas and Orlando with prizes ranging upward of $100,000.
Other offerings were interesting but fell short for various reasons. One made with mole, cilantro and sour cream sounded and tasted great, but the gooeyness of all the ingredients and the steamed bun morphed into mush after the first bite — it was high on flavor, low on functionality. But despite even our harshest criticism, the overall scores this year were much higher than in the previous two years’ competitions. Most of the participants have raised the bar significantly.
Battle of the Burger organizer Kelly Denson notes, “Burgers really level the playing field. You can have a really high-end restaurant going head-to-head with a food truck, and it’s a toss-up.” That surely was the case this year.
The people’s choice award went to the Rankin Vault for the third year in a row, meaning the restaurant can keep the contest’s giant burger trophy — the local Stanley Cup of burgerdom — proudly on display on its bar. The Vault’s hallmark burger, with its Hickory Nut Gap Farm patty, arugula, sharp cheddar and magical mystery sauce, has become a bit of a phenomenon in the Asheville area. “After the Vault won the first time three years ago, their burger sales grew so much that they had to add an extension to their kitchen, because they started selling so much more food,” Denson points out.
This year, the Salvage Station waived its entry fee for the event at the last minute, meaning guests without VIP passes were able to buy what they wanted a la carte from the vendors, have a beer or three and enjoy the live music. “We don’t have an official [attendance] number because there was free admission,” Denson says. “But based on the voting and the parking, we’re just guesstimating at about 1,200,” which is roughly the same as the previous year’s crowd. | http://mountainx.com/food/from-the-front-lines-the-third-annual-wnc-battle-of-the-burger/ | en | 2016-08-24T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/dc596e05969057304a2fc1237348a68ba8d675afc50718d4f619cdd33297cc82.json |
[
"Kat Studied Entrepreneurship",
"Music Business At The University Of Miami",
"Earned Her Mba At Appalachian State University."
] | 2016-08-28T14:47:01 | null | 2016-08-28T10:27:10 | A Jamiroquai tribute act opens Déjà Fuze's album release party — which also features live painting, local vendors and prizes — at Asheville Music Hall on Friday, Sept. 2. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Farts%2Fsmart-bets-deja-fuze%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Deja-Fuze-Electrified-1100x733.jpg | en | null | Smart bets: Déjà Fuze | null | null | mountainx.com | Seven years after its conception, Déjà Fuze’s album Some Sort of Green is finally set for release. Part of the delay was due to a geographic separation that fragmented the self-described “progressive electric fusion” group in 2012. But 2016 brought a reunion. And although the bandmates are writing new, “more layered and textured” music, they also felt compelled to complete their debut full-length recording, which features the older, road-tested tunes. “Though our perceptions have definitely changed, we feel like it has only made the music grow and mature,” says bassist and vocalist Keith Harry. “So, playing it now is really a new inspiration rather than trying to capture what once was.” A Jamiroquai tribute act opens the album release party — which also features live painting, local vendors and prizes — at Asheville Music Hall on Friday, Sept. 2, at 10 p.m. $10/$12. ashevillemusichall.com. Photo courtesy of the band | http://mountainx.com/arts/smart-bets-deja-fuze/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/192893d9f98cde5bfb771eeebd3a7cc54d664b6c04d6af946f80fd2adbe41408.json |
[
"Jake Frankel Is An Award-Winning Journalist Who Enjoys Covering A Wide Range Of Topics",
"Politics",
"Government To Business",
"Education"
] | 2016-08-30T16:48:18 | null | 2010-08-17T21:00:52 | Self-proclaimed political gadfly Jerry Rice has been a perennial presence at Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meetings for more than 20 years. A passionate advocate of fiscal conservatism and open government, he’s taken to the lectern to speak out on issues ranging from zoning to cleaning up the former CTS site to mental-health care and… | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fnews%2Fcommunity-news%2F081810askville%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/ASKville.JerryRice-e1414616339639-1100x1283.jpg | en | null | ASKville: Jerry Rice | null | null | mountainx.com | Self-proclaimed political gadfly Jerry Rice has been a perennial presence at Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meetings for more than 20 years.
A passionate advocate of fiscal conservatism and open government, he’s taken to the lectern to speak out on issues ranging from zoning to cleaning up the former CTS site to mental-health care and education. The longtime Candler resident has also videotaped thousands of hours of public proceedings and maintains a massive archive.
Rice says he draws inspiration from growing up with 18 brothers and sisters, which underscored the importance of giving. “Dad would say, ‘OK, boys and girls, let’s go help a neighbor,'” he remembers. “So what I’ve always done is use that principle in what I do.”
Rice sees his role as “alerting people that there’s danger out there, that there’s things happening.” Mountain Xpress sat down with him recently; here are excerpts from that conversation.
Mountain Xpress: Why are you so passionate about county government?
Jerry Rice: Because when it comes to government issues, I don’t think the commissioners really want people to be informed. They do things in what I’d call very secretive meetings. I think their decisions are made before they get to the [public] meetings. …
They inform the media the way they want to inform them, but they really don’t inform the public. And the articles that get written up, unless you dig like a dog, you’re just not going to find what the real issues are. …
And from what I understand, we don’t have any investigative reporters. … What bothers me more than anything is why the press is not on top of these major issues. And here I am telling about things that the press already should have been on a year or two ahead of me.
Have you ever considered going into journalism more formally?
No, no; I don’t want no part of it. I feel like I’m doing what I need to do. It’s kind of like a junkyard dog … put in there to protect whatever’s inside that fence. I’m in Buncombe County and I feel like I’m a watchdog, because I’m trying to protect what people don’t know is inside the fence. …
I get a lot of people in the grocery store. My wife says, “Who’s that?” I say, “I don’t know.” They’ll just walk up to me and say, “I do appreciate your support in helping us and what you do at the county commission level.” … So there’s no question I fill a void for others that would like to be there. I feel like I do speak for a lot of people.
Was there a particular issue or cause that originally got you involved?
School issues. I ran for school board in 1994; I started videoing commissioner meetings in 1993.
Why education issues?
I had a child that we had some problems with academically, and I wanted to see if the child had any learning disabilities and had him evaluated. … And that got me into understanding more of how the school worked. And I read the law and the procedures and the policies, and I got educated real well. … So I started attending school-board meetings and videoing … and then I started learning how much money was coming from the county commissioners to the schools, and it intrigued me. …
From there, we got into the county government, because it was feeding the school system. It’s all politically tied together. You’ve got to know how it’s all connected, because that’s what makes it all run.
Have you thought of running for office again?
Yeah, I’ve thought about it. But my wife said she’d divorce me if I did, so I don’t try to think of it. We’ve been married 41 years. I’ve got a very good, devoted wife and family, and I love family.
What have you done over the years to help inform the public about what’s going on with local government?
I’ve been asked by the county commissioners, “Why do you video when we’re videoing?” Well, first of all, I get a whole lot more information than they do on my camera, because they’re only concerned about the speakers at the podium or their little parts that they want to bring to the public. They don’t always get the audience, all the people that come to the meetings. They only get the shots they want.
What have you done with all those tapes?
I don’t ever say where I’ve got them, but I’ve got a little over 3,000 tapes. … Anything the commissioners did, I was always at.
How do you think the current commissioners compare to past boards?
I don’t really see that big of a change, except they’re more secretive. Things that are costing the taxpayers millions of dollars are not discussed at the county commission meetings.
The capital projects that I accused the county manager of not bringing forth in her budget message … they planned it that way. They did not want the taxpayers to be informed on the millions of dollars being spent, because it would show that they’ve got a bankroll of money that the taxpayers would be on to them about if they knew it.
It’s like [County Manager] Wanda Greene said, “If you want to see it, go on the website.” How many people in the general public have access to the Web? How many of them see it on TV and how many see it in the newspaper? If the budget message is going to be given, it ought to be given as it should, and it ought to be complete. I was upset about it. And I made my comments known. [Editor’s note: Rice was the only resident to speak during the county’s public hearing on its 2010-11 budget).
How do you find the time to be as involved as you are?
Everybody’s asked me that question for 23 years. I work for myself, and I’ve always spent my money out of my own pocket and done without a whole lot, moneywise, just to be a watchdog for the community and for the taxpayers. And I have no doubt that I’ve saved the taxpayers millions of dollars … just by being there and observing what’s going on and alerting the public to what they were doing.
Do you plan to continue for the foreseeable future?
I have no doubt of continuing, if my health is well and able to go. But … I have seen a lot of interest from private citizens getting more involved into the causes — more than I could ever keep up with. And I feel like I’ve been an inspiration to a lot of folks to do that.
Do you think modern technology helps empower citizen journalists to be watchdogs and get the word out about what they observe?
I think the county commissioners, any elected body — I think they fear what technology is doing, because the actual public is informed probably quicker than the county commissioners are. … I think technology in the future is going to be more powerful than anything we’ve ever seen.
— Jake Frankel can be reached at 251-1333, ext. 115, or at jfrankel@mountainx.com. | http://mountainx.com/news/community-news/081810askville/ | en | 2010-08-17T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/71cf6925beb809c5e0e6b61975e0e09e44121f696cda3a06c28e781de2af8cca.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T16:46:30 | null | 2016-08-26T11:25:19 | Democrat Brian Turner is the presumptive winner of November's House District 116 election. Aug. 25 marked the final day for Buncombe County Republicans to select a candidate to run against him. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fnews%2Fgop-fails-to-find-candidate-turner-presumptive-winner%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/BrianTurner-1100x1540.jpg | en | null | GOP fails to find candidate, Turner presumptive winner | null | null | mountainx.com | Representative Brian Turner looks to be heading back to Raleigh for a second term. The Democratic incumbent for House District 116 is the presumptive winner of November’s election since the Republican Party did not file a candidate by the Aug. 25 deadline. Kay Olsen, Turner’s original opponent, dropped out of the race, citing business reasons.
Nathan West, chair of the Buncombe County GOP said they couldn’t find anyone to replace her. “We wish we could have had someone to run against Turner because Buncombe County needs effective leadership in Raleigh. It’s unfortunate,” he said.
Buncombe County Republican leadership has had its hands full filling a number of vacancies triggered by Miranda DeBruhl’s resignation from the board of commissioners.
Turner defeated Republican incumbent Tim Moffitt in 2014. Upon learning he won’t have an official opponent, Turner told Xpress, “It’s a pleasant surprise, but it really won’t change anything I’m doing in my role as a representative. Even without an opponent, I’m going to be active and engage with the community.”
Looking ahead to his presumptive second term, Turner said he wants to continue a bipartisan approach to work on issues like public education, environmental protection and strengthening the local economy. “We need to bring back some good jobs and also focus on the existing businesses,” he said. “I’m going to continue to work in the way I have in the past. I’m going to have town hall meetings and continue to focus on constituent services.”
Back in 2014, Turner upset Moffitt’s bid for a third term by fewer than 1,000 votes. Turner says he appreciates the chance to represent the traditionally Republican district. “I think that folks are looking for someone who’s going to go to Raleigh and represent them and fight for what’s right for our community. I don’t think party affiliation matters as much as, ‘Are you truly representing the people, or do you have some other agenda?’ My goal is to be in Raleigh focused on the people of my district,” he said.
Turner isn’t the only Buncombe County incumbent running unopposed. Representative Susan Fisher of District 114 (that covers most of Asheville) is also considered the presumptive winner. District 115, the county’s only other house district, will feature Democrat incumbent Brian Ager facing off against Republican Frank Moretz. | http://mountainx.com/news/gop-fails-to-find-candidate-turner-presumptive-winner/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/937d9f8ad8e7c0bfa712d7fa58c2a979d5a22b956959608c2bf5c028677986ec.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T14:47:51 | null | 2016-08-27T21:26:47 | Independent news, arts, events and information for Asheville and Western North Carolina. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fblogwire%2Finternational-day-of-peace-to-be-celebrated-sept-21%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/themes/mx/img/logo-default.svg | en | null | International Day of Peace to be celebrated Sept. 21 | null | null | mountainx.com | PRESS RELEASE:
The Center for Art & Spirit at St.George will mark the International Day of Peace, September 21, with an entire week focused on peace, from Sunday, September 18 through Sunday, September 25 2016, with special events each day. Saturday, September 24 will feature a multitude of events and activities, and the campus will be festooned with peace flags.
Between 10 am and 2 pm on Saturday, September 24, there will be activities for all ages: creation of Peace Flags, Peace Collages, Peace Rocks, and Pinwheels for Peace. In the sanctuary, the symbols and sacred objects of major spiritual traditions will be displayed, including the “Golden Rule” as articulated by each one. Veterans for Peace, Chapter 99, will have their new offices at the Center open, and Christians for a United Community will have a staffed information table. At 2 pm, WNC4Peace will have an awards ceremony for the Peace Day Creative Project with entries from students across Buncombe County, as well as the naming of Peacemaker(s) of the Year. At 3 pm, Dances of Universal Peace will be open to all, no experience or dance background. necessary.
Participating Partners in Peace Week are: Center for Art & Spirit at St.George, C hristians for a United Community, Creative Peacemakers, Dances of Universal Peace, Saint George’s Episcopal Church, Montessori Learning Community, Veterans for Peace Chapter 99, and WNC4Peace.
Everyone is welcome at any or all of the CAS Peace Week activities: Schedule for the week:
9/18 Sunday 10:30 – Prayers for Peace with Holy Eucharist, with St.George’s Episcopal Church, sanctuary. All are welcome at worship, and at St.George’s Adult Forums on Peace – Sundays, September 4,11,18 & 25, 9:30-10:15 library, with various leaders.
9/19-24 Monday-Saturday – brief Prayers for Peace at the Peace Pole, located at the bottom of the ramp into the fellowship hall. With St.George’s Episcopal Church.
9/20 Tuesday 5-6 – all are invited to the Veterans for Peace Vigil at Pack Square
9/23 Friday 10-12 – Contemplating Peace, Contemplative Companions, library. Regular monthly gathering, this month focused on peace. All are welcome!
9/24 Saturday
10-2 – make Peace Rocks, Peace Collages, Peace Flags, and Pinwheels for Peace at various locations in and around the Center. (*additional information below)
10-2 – Veterans for Peace, Chapter 99, open house for their new offices at the Center. VFP also welcomes anyone to stand with them at their weekly Peace Vigil on Pack Square, Tuesdays 5-6.
10-2 – Christians for a United Community staffed information booth, on the CAS campus
2:00 pm – WNC4Peace awards ceremony for for Buncombe County students who submitted entries for the Peace Day Creatives Contest; and honoring of Peace Maker(s) of the Year.
3-4 – Dances of Universal Peace: an opportunity to watch, learn, and participate at your own comfort level. Led by Tarana Wesley and Shemsuddin Millard, who are organizers of the two monthly Dances of Universal Peace at CAS. Sanctuary. Donations welcomed.
9/25 Sunday 10:30 – Prayers for Peace with Holy Eucharist, with St.George’s Episcopal Church, sanctuary. All are welcome!
* Additional Information on Activities:
* Peace Flags – the children of Creative Peacemakers, Montessori Learning Community, and other groups will be making and/or bringing Peace Flags all week. Watch the CAS campus come alive with colorful Peace Flags festooned in the trees! And on Saturday, September 24, 10-2, come to the fellowship hall to make your own Peace Flags!
* Peace Village – a display of sacred symbols and objects from faith traditions around the globe. The Peace Village will be displayed all week in the sanctuary.
* Peace Collage – come and create your own collage of pictures, words, and other media. Materials provided, donations welcome.
* Peace Rocks – a project launched by Creative Peacemakers at the WNC4Peace display at the LEAF Festival in downtown Asheville. Come and paint your own Peace Rocks to take home or leave around town (schools, health care facilities, libraries, parks, community centers…). Materials provided, donations welcome. | http://mountainx.com/blogwire/international-day-of-peace-to-be-celebrated-sept-21/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/77767b13053d1c4bf28a4288c69eac287673d5f44811eacba2887e3424ace284.json |
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"Editor At Mountain Xpress. She'S Lived In Asheville For More Than Years",
"Loves Live Music",
"Visual Art",
"Fiction",
"Friendly Dogs. Alli Is The Author Of",
"The Novel",
"How To Talk To Rockstars",
"Published Logosophia Books."
] | 2016-08-26T14:46:28 | null | 2016-08-26T10:00:45 | Will this Uncle Earl reunion bring new songs? “We’ll have rehearsal in Nashville before the tour starts … and it depends on how everyone feels,” fiddle player Rayna Gellert says. “My hope is that we’ll do some new stuff because it would fun for the audience, and fun for us.” | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Farts%2Fold-time-outfit-uncle-earl-reunites-for-a-special-tour%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/UncleEarl-089-2-1100x733.jpeg | en | null | Old-time outfit Uncle Earl reunites for a special tour | null | null | mountainx.com | Though the lineup of old-time collective Uncle Earl has not been consistent — past players include co-founder/vocalist Jo Serrapere, fiddler Stephanie Coleman, banjo player/clogger Paula Bradley, multi-instrumentalist Rachel Eddy and a number of others — it’s always been composed of all women. (Their fans called them the g’Earls.) The band’s last album was Waterloo, TN, released in 2007, and the musicians stopped touring regularly in 2009 due to scheduling conflicts.
But two years ago, following severe flooding in Lyons, Colo., Uncle Earl was invited by the organizers of Rocky Grass festival — held in that town — to play a reunion show. “It was a miraculous thing that they were able to put the festival on,” says fiddle player Rayna Gellert. “We, as a band, had spent so much time in Lyons.” What was intended as a one-off, to celebrate the resilience of the town and its festival, was so much fun that Gellert, banjo player Abigail Washburn, mandolin and guitar player KC Groves (also an Uncle Earl co-founder) and fiddler/clogger Kristin Andreassen all agreed they might like to get together again sometime.
That time is now. A one-week tour, including performances at the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival and the Rhythm & Roots Festival, makes a stop at The Grey Eagle on Wednesday, Aug. 31. It’s a stage that’s always been important to Gellert, a longtime Western North Carolina resident.
“The way I felt when Uncle Earl played in Asheville, which was not very often, was like I was getting to share my very good friends from other places with my hometown,” she says. Gellert attended Warren Wilson College, where she met members of West African-influenced collective Toubab Krewe, a band with whom she toured and recorded. The fiddler grew up with old-time music (both of her parents play), and after college she joined the string band The Freight Hoppers.
“I thought I was just getting away with something temporarily. I thought it was a phase and [the gigs] would dry up,” she says of playing music professionally. “But it didn’t.” Through touring and the festival circuit, Gellert came to know artists like Sarah and Sean Watkins, Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch. “It’s so reassuring to talk to someone like Gillian and realize she goes through the same bullsh*t with songwriting that I do,” Gellert says.
Her friendships with Washburn, Groves and Andreassen have outlasted their collective tenure in Uncle Earl, too. “I feel like we’ve all gotten more confident in our own projects,” Gellert says. She recently released Old Light: Songs from My Childhood & Other Gone Worlds, her first vocal album. (She’s in the process of relocating to Nashville to pursue songwriting, though, “No matter where I’m living, I feel like Asheville’s going to be my hometown in my heart,” she says). Meanwhile, Washburn has been playing and recording with her husband, banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck. And Groves is at work on the solo album Happy Little Trees, due out in September. Andreassen runs the Miles of Music Island Camp and, earlier this year, released a song in collaboration with The Stray Birds.
“The fact that we’ve gone off and pursued our own stuff makes us stronger musicians in Uncle Earl,” Gellert says. “[Something] that will be different this time — and this is a result of us doing different musical things — is that we used to tour with the four of us and a rotating bass player. This time, KC’s playing bass. … That came about because she was in a bluegrass band in Colorado for a couple of years and got her bass chops.”
While the g’Earls have lent their individual talents to a variety of projects — Gellert has worked with Robyn Hitchcock, Tyler Ramsey and Loudon Wainwright III, among others; Washburn was part of the Sparrow Quartet with Fleck, cellist Ben Sollee and fiddle player Casey Driessen (they were the first American band to tour Tibet) — their sound is based in old-time. “I’m really drawn to the old sounds because that’s what I grew up with. It’s my native language,” Gellert says. “When I hear someone playing old-time music with real nuance, that’s compelling to me. But I also love when people do things with the music that are innovative.”
So will this Uncle Earl reunion bring new songs? “We’ll have rehearsal in Nashville before the tour starts … and it depends on how everyone feels,” Gellert says. “My hope is that we’ll do some new stuff because it would fun for the audience and fun for us.”
WHO: Uncle Earl with Anna and Elizabeth
WHERE: The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave., thegreyeagle.com
WHEN: Wednesday, Aug. 31, 8 p.m. $17 advance/$20 day of show | http://mountainx.com/arts/old-time-outfit-uncle-earl-reunites-for-a-special-tour/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/6fa7d9279f5f51692857b11324e5ce6fa7159eee9b3b25663326a5431a1c505d.json |
[
"Alli Marshall Is The Arts Writer",
"Editor At Mountain Xpress. She'S Lived In Asheville For More Than Years",
"Loves Live Music",
"Visual Art",
"Fiction",
"Friendly Dogs. Alli Is The Author Of",
"The Novel",
"How To Talk To Rockstars",
"Published Logosophia Books."
] | 2016-08-26T12:47:47 | null | 2016-08-25T13:00:41 | Felice Bell was named the winner of the Xpress 2016 Indie 500 Flash Fiction Contest for her story, “Finding Astrid.” The story appears here in full. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Farts%2Fread-the-winning-indie-500-flash-fiction-contect-entry%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Lopez_2-1100x1541.jpg | en | null | Read the winning Indie 500 flash fiction contest entry | null | null | mountainx.com | Felice Bell was named the winner of the Xpress 2016 Indie 500 Flash Fiction Contest for her story, “Finding Astrid.” Bell’s entry was one of 55 submissions. The final judges were Jake Bible and Katey Schultz, who also named “Hitters” by Dan Damerville and “Ink” by Mare Carmody Borgelt as the runners up. Those stories will be published in next week’s issue of Xpress.
Finalists in the contest were Ellen Perry for “Bleak Midwinter,” Jim Himmelheber for “Please Pass the Stranger,” Lea McLellan for “The Date,” M. Jean Smith for “West Asheville 1987,” Rod Johnston for “Call Me Gibson,” Greg Candle for “The Day Hank Williams Came to Bunkum,” Maria Thomas for “In Sylva Time Stands,” Jan Meriwether for “Hanging at the Diner” and Scott Milhas for “Unaduti.”
Bell’s winning story appears in full:
“Finding Astrid”
They found my sister’s Honda jammed into dog hobble edging the French Broad. She hadn’t been home or to the restaurant on Patton for days. We hoped she’d left her boyfriend and run off to Nashville again. We didn’t like Kevin: He drank excessively and wore body spray.
The Honda sat in the impound lot downtown while it was checked for prints. If Astrid turned up, would she want it back? It broke my heart to think the word “if” in that sentence. It felt the way a dentist’s drill feels before the Novocaine starts.
After retrieving the Honda, I attacked it with organic citronella cleaner. I filled flesh-colored Ingles bags with crusty burrito wrappers, crumpled energy drink cans, and 14 Orange Peel ticket stubs.
Three years earlier, I graduated and left for UNC Charlotte to learn about drinking from Solo cups and pretending to be a different kind of girl. A year after that, Astrid graduated and worked at a Clock Restaurant in Greenville before moving home. She waited on her high school teachers; they whispered phrases like “unrealized potential.”
As teenagers, I could talk her into trespassing. There was a barn in Leicester with a deer stand on top. We watched it sway from below, then climbed up the ladder and sat up there. Wind snaked through the cracks between the boards. Our hair whipped around. Looking at her was looking in a fun-house mirror. I offered her my lipstick, and she asked, “Why are you putting on lipstick way the hell up here?”
When we were 7 and 8, I talked her into a midnight ride. I knocked our bedroom window screen into the rhododendrons below. We scraped our bellies against the sill and compared gouges. We took our mother’s mare out of her particle-board stall and rode bareback. Astrid sat behind me, and laced her fingers across the belly of my pajamas. We jostled along dirt roads beneath the Technicolor sunrise, singing songs our grandma taught us: “Shanty Town,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Clementine.” The newspaper-delivery man reported us, and we fell asleep in the backseat of a Crown Vic police cruiser.
When we were toddlers, we played in the tack room while our mother mucked stalls. We sucked sweet molasses from handfuls of horse feed. We hid with spiders in saddle-empty cubbies. We took turns lifting each other up to look out the window at the mountains buzzing blue in the distance.
My mother leafed through Astrid’s photos, white and worn at their corners. She told me to sell the Honda in the I Wanna. I said I’d think about it.
The next morning, I backed out of my driveway. Doves and juncos cooed and twittered. I listened to the crackling of Astrid’s preset stations until the voices turned crisp. Then, I turned the volume all the way down and opened the windows. I listened for Astrid as the wind whipped my hair around to stick to my freshly painted lips. | http://mountainx.com/arts/read-the-winning-indie-500-flash-fiction-contect-entry/ | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/a971f0e24bae49deb93c8cd687286875271bee9e37b74f61e739defc7735e73b.json |
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"Native Asheville Writer",
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"Drinker",
"Bartender",
"Musician. Proprietor Of Www.Dirty-Spoon.Com"
] | 2016-08-30T00:48:10 | null | 2016-08-22T17:18:26 | Festival organizer Kris Kraft talks about the numerous changes to this year's festival and why there is no longer a WNC Chef's Challenge. Photo gallery from Sweet and the Grand Tasting by Adam McMillan | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Ffood%2Fin-photos-2016-asheville-wine-food-festival%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/SWEET-10-1100x733.jpg | en | null | Ever-evolving: A look at the 2016 Asheville Wine & Food Festival | null | null | mountainx.com | The hum of the vacuum cleaner is about the only sound echoing across the halls of the U.S. Cellular Center now where on Aug. 20, thousands of voices laughed, toasted and bantered during the 2016 Asheville Wine & Food Festival. Now in its eighth year of highlighting the area’s chefs, food producers, wineries and grocers, the festival has seen myriad changes and perpetual growth.
In the wake of staging one of the region’s largest culinary festivals, director Kris Kraft says she hasn’t had a chance to round up any attendance numbers. More than 3,400 tickets were sold before the festival, but a final tally is still pending. “I’ve just been unloading Ryder Trucks and U-Haul’s and cleaning up the U.S. Cellular center,” she says. “So I haven’t even made it into the office yet.”
Last year, there were 5,000 people in attendance. “I’d say this year we are at least comparable to that,” she says.
The 2016 event saw some significant changes. In May, the organizers hosted the inaugural Asheville Cocktail Week. This replaced the festival’s Elixir cocktail competition, which was traditionally held the same weekend as the other events. The weeklong booze fest offered a series of workshops and gatherings, including the Southeastern Distilling Expo, and culminated in a showdown featuring a dozen local bartenders slinging North Carolina liquors before a panel of judges.
The revamped cocktail component brought this year’s August events down two. The festival’s dessert-focused party, Sweet, kicked off the festivities Aug. 19 in the Grove Arcade, and the Grand Tasting following on Saturday.
Another change this year was that for the first time, the festival did not revolve around the WNC Chef’s Challenge. The cooking competition staged at the end of the Grand Tasting served as the event’s grand finale preceded by a year’s worth of qualifying dinners where diners voted for their favorite meals.
“It had run its course,” says Kraft. “Most of the chefs we were attracting were the younger, newer up-and-coming chefs who were less well-known, and people just didn’t seem to want to buy tickets for that. It was a lot of work without a lot of return, and it wasn’t really giving anybody the exposure they expected.”
This year, in lieu of the Chef’s Challenge, chef’s gave demos at kitchen areas throughout the festival grounds. “We felt that teaching people how to cook was something that was more appealing than just watching people cook,” says Kraft. “So we wanted to bring in some high-caliber chefs to teach you something and create that open dialogue.”
Local chefs, such as Joe Scully of Chestnut and Corner Kitchen and Green Opportunities’ Liam Lutrell-Rowland, joined out-of-towners like Atlanta’s Matthew Brasford and last year’s Chef’s Challenge winner, Ulfet Ralph of Charleston, for the well-attended demos.
Kraft dismisses speculation from some attendees that the festival had fewer vendors than in previous years. “I’ve heard that quite a bit, and that’s an unfortunate viewpoint, because it is untrue,” she says. “We actually had a few more vendors than we had last year, but we got rid of the Chef’s Challenge, and we removed the VIP imprint from the main floor. Our vendors were more spread out to allow for more space, because last year we kept hearing that it was too crowded.”
There was also a change to the VIP ticketing. In previous years, the VIP pass gave guests a private seating area and allowed admission to the tasting floor before the doors were opened to general admission ticket holders. The perk was open lanes and easy access to booths and samples of food and wine. This year, VIP guests received not just early access, but also were invited to an after-party on the top floor of the facility that featured more food, live music and wine service from Shelton Vineyards. All 1,000 VIP tickets were sold.
“We were removing VIP from the footprint of the floor, trying to make the best out of the building as we could,” says Kraf. “By pulling them upstairs, it created more floor space and gave us the opportunity to have some music and really be separate from the rest of the crowd.”
The 2016 Grand Tasting featured two floors of booths from local wines, restaurants and food companies. A few of the many highlights were chef James Lumley‘s rotating menu of fresh griddled dishes from the Omni Grove Park Inn’s Vue 1913, Slow Food Asheville’s jams and jellies and the now-expected stellar showings of local white wines from vineyards like Jones Von Drehl and St. Paul Mountain Vineyards, as well as some new meads from Addison Farms Vineyard.
One obvious omission was the liquor vendors. Festival organizers decided to exclude distillers, since they were already featured during Asheville Cocktail Week’s Southeaster Distilling Expo, which was only open to members of the service industry.
“It’s really the ultimate challenge of juggling everyone’s expectations and perceptions,” says Kraft. “I found a happy medium, but I’m still not 100 percent on making everyone happy.”
Regardless, the Asheville Wine & Food Festival has come a long way since its days at the WNC Agricultural Center when local distilleries were a new thing and filo cups filled with tomato salad were still a trend. If anything, this year’s event was a testament to the ever-evolving nature of the concept. It also represents a raised hand from the budding local wine industry that reminds us of the thriving culinary and agricultural economies booming just under the surface of our bedrock restaurant scene.
Photo gallery by Adam McMillan: | http://mountainx.com/food/in-photos-2016-asheville-wine-food-festival/ | en | 2016-08-22T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/a851ea50e55f8fade98ad60ab6d141e8cc61b50052c8a00af0afdf31baf6ddf6.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T14:47:52 | null | 2016-08-14T00:00:00 | Wicked Weed's collaboration with Creature Comforts hits distribution, breweries benefit the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and Thirsty Fest 2016 kicks off. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Ffood%2Fbeer-today-gone-tomorrow-asheville-beer-happenings-aug-30-sept-5%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/14184370_1061041153991601_3955317100273115602_n.jpg | en | null | Beer today, gone tomorrow: Asheville beer happenings Aug. 30-Sept. 5 | null | null | mountainx.com | Beer Today, Gone Tomorrow is the one-stop home for Asheville-area beer news. Check back throughout the week for updates and send your own to wncbeertoday@gmail.com.
Bottle/can releases
Following its release at the Funkatorium last Saturday, bottles of, Wicked Weed Brewing‘s collaboration with Athens, Ga.-based Creature Comforts Brewing Co., are expected to hit specialty retail shelves this week. As the name would imply, Juiceless is a fruit-forward IPA brewed entirely without fruit, deriving all fruit notes from its hop bill.
Bolo Coconut Brown will return on draft and in 16 -ounce cans on Friday, Sept. 2, at the Burial Beer Co. taproom and specialty retailers.
will return on draft and in 16 -ounce cans on Friday, Sept. 2, at the Burial Beer Co. taproom and specialty retailers. On Saturday, Sept. 3, Burial Beer Co. will release Adoration of the Mystic Lamb Session Brett fermented with 100 percent brettanomyces, dry-hopped with Galaxy hops and bottle conditioned for two months on fruit nectar. Bottles will be for sale at the indoor and patio bars. The 750-milliliter bottles will cost $14 each and will not see distribution. There is no purchase limit.
Small-batch beers
Brewed in collaboration with the Pink Boots Society, Asheville Brewing Co. brings back its 5 percent ABV Apricot Gose at both brewpubs Friday, Sept. 2, at 5 p.m. Pink Boots Apricot Gose is brewed with Azacca hops, coriander seed, and pink Himalayan sea salt with apricot purée.
is brewed with Azacca hops, coriander seed, and pink Himalayan sea salt with apricot purée. Twin Leaf Brewery is releasing a Blackberry Basil Saison , a 5.8 precent ABV light pink saison brewed with fresh blackberries and African basil from Rayburn Farms.
, a 5.8 precent ABV light pink saison brewed with fresh blackberries and African basil from Rayburn Farms. Boojum Brewing Co. in Waynesville releases Hop Fiend IPA on draft at the taproom and through distribution. Hop Fiend is 6.5 percent ABV, 80 IBU IPA hopped with Mosaic, Simcoe and Citra.
Special events | http://mountainx.com/food/beer-today-gone-tomorrow-asheville-beer-happenings-aug-30-sept-5/ | en | 2016-08-14T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/7b1fdf7fdbdf316945c647fc3fcffdc3311754f40c4e0d21983f7dae184eebbd.json |
[
"Kat Studied Entrepreneurship",
"Music Business At The University Of Miami",
"Earned Her Mba At Appalachian State University."
] | 2016-08-31T14:47:53 | null | 2016-08-31T10:39:03 | Romweber and JD Wilkes of The Legendary Shack Shakers both perform sets at The Grey Eagle on Wednesday, Sept. 7. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Farts%2Fsmart-bets-dex-romweber%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/BET-Dex-Photo-by-Stan-Lewis-1100x786.jpg | en | null | Smart bets: Dex Romweber | null | null | mountainx.com | Google “Dex Romweber” and nearly every link will inform you: The guitarist and singer built a rockabilly empire with the Flat Duo Jets in the ’80s and ’90s, and later formed a band with his sister on drums — all the while impressing a younger generation of A-list fans like Jack White and Cat Power. But let’s move on to current affairs. Romweber is about to release a solo album that’s brimming with moody textures, from the mischievous growl of retro rock ‘n’ roll to the ominous, galloping melodies of a lone ranger. Several covers also make their way into the collection, including a dissonant take on Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” that, counterintuitively, is among the most serotonin-starved tracks. Romweber and JD Wilkes (The Legendary Shack Shakers) both perform sets at The Grey Eagle on Wednesday, Sept. 7, at 9 p.m. $12/$15. thegreyeagle.com. Photo by Stan Lewis | http://mountainx.com/arts/smart-bets-dex-romweber/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/f8e891de58a6f224098a3ae4120b322923b53e85965b8d0643730a995200098f.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T14:46:50 | null | 2016-08-27T09:47:22 | A new partnership between Mission Health and GE Healthcare, announced at a press conference Friday morning, could save the health care system and consumers more than $40 million in unnecessary health care costs over the decadelong course of the project.The partnership calls for optimization of imaging experience and use, as well as easing patient-care… | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fliving%2Fwellness%2Fmission-ge-healthcare-partnership-aims-to-reduce-medical-test-costs%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ron-Paul.jpg | en | null | Mission, GE Healthcare partnership aims to reduce medical test costs | null | null | mountainx.com | A new partnership between Mission Health and GE Healthcare, announced at a press conference Friday morning, could save the health care system and consumers more than $40 million in unnecessary health care costs over the decadelong course of the project.The partnership calls for optimization of imaging experience and use, as well as easing patient-care transitions.
Mission Health will use imaging equipment made by GE, which will, in turn, receive data on outcomes, and it will work with that information to speed diagnoses, assess asset utilization, reduce unnecessary repeat tests and reduce wait times for patients and clinicians.
Mission President and CEO Dr. Ron Paulus explained that many people go for imaging – X-ray, CT scan or MRI – without knowing whether the technique is appropriate and often must return for another costly test when results are not definitive. In addition, patients should be able to know the cost of their tests and be able to schedule the procedure when it’s most convenient for them.
The focus, he said, is getting patients to the right imaging method, at the right time and at the lowest cost.
One example of a useful new technology, Paulus said, would be an app that patients could use to find what they need and schedule it. Patients can schedule the test at a facility that’s closest to home or work, or based on the appointment time available or on cost, all on their smartphones.
The partnership also calls for a new patient monitoring system that will allow patients to be followed systemwide, no matter where they are – emergency department, surgery, post-op or clinic, so there are fewer lapses in getting the information necessary for treatment decisions.
“We can’t do this alone,” Paulus told a gathering to announce the partnership. “We don’t have the resources. We need partners.”
Jess Immelt, president and CEO of GE. Photo by Leslie Boyd
Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE, said he believes the problems of health care delivery need local and regional solutions, and that when those problems are solved through innovation, it helps to create good jobs for the region.
“It’s all about what we do next,” Immelt said.
After the announcement, Mission board member and gastroenterologist Dr. John Garrett said he is excited to see industry and medicine working together.
“They make the hardware and then work with the scientists to make it work better,” he said.
Dr. Charlie Sawyer is head of medical information for Mission. He is one of the people who collects patient information and other data for assessment.
“The first question is how you order the right test,” he said. “If I’m [Carolina Panthers quarterback] Cam Newton and I wrench my knee, I need an MRI this afternoon. But if I’m me, I can try ice and rest for a couple of days, and if that works, fine.”
Dr. Bryon Dickerson, CEO of Asheville Radiology, said each test has its own advantages, and there are times when all three are necessary, for example, to determine the properties of a tumor.
“You need to have all of the right tests and none of the wrong ones,” he said. “And the money we save will help to increase access to care.”
In addition, allowing patients to shop for care based on cost could help drive costs down, Dickerson said.
“With today’s high-deductible, high co-pay plans, patients are more likely to have to pay for tests out-of-pocket,” Dickerson said. “Of course, consumers should know the cost beforehand.” | http://mountainx.com/living/wellness/mission-ge-healthcare-partnership-aims-to-reduce-medical-test-costs/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/3552d442d59004c074a368c0b922ffdbae024e1ffbf351d9d34c5e1d0efb03dc.json |
[
"We Want To Hear You",
"Send Your Letters",
"Commentary To Letters Mountainx.Com"
] | 2016-08-29T20:47:25 | null | 2016-08-29T16:00:37 | "While parody has its place in artistic expression, making light of victimization is no laughing matter." | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fopinion%2Fletter-writer-our-voices-role-is-to-advocate-not-mediate%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/X_letters-1100x734.jpg | en | null | Letter writer: Our VOICE’s role is to advocate, not mediate | null | null | mountainx.com | After reading this article, [“Jagged Little Pill: Local Playwright Stages a Satire About the Manosphere,” Aug. 17, Xpress] I want to clarify a few points. First, at no point did Our VOICE lead a mediation between the playwright and those who did not want to play to move forward. Our VOICE was invited and participated in the mediation conducted by the Mediation Center at both parties’ request. Our role as an organization is not to mediate but to advocate for individuals impacted by sexual violence.
Since the play was brought to our attention, we have been consistent in expressing our concerns. First and foremost, we believe that individuals impacted by sexual violence have the right to hold and share their own stories. We are concerned that any level of specificity that ties the play to actual events in the community would revictimize those that were impacted by the Waking Life scandal.
We sincerely hope that our concerns were heard as well as those who took part in the mediation. While parody has its place in artistic expression, making light of victimization is no laughing matter.
As always, we encourage the community to take part in dialogue regarding rape culture, how it contributes to sexual violence and how it can be dismantled. How a community conducts this dialogue sets the stage for whether those who have been impacted by sexual violence come out from under the shadows. We at Our VOICE believe that this community can create the best possible environment for empowering victims to seek the justice and healing they deserve.
— Angelica Wind
Executive Director
Our VOICE
Asheville | http://mountainx.com/opinion/letter-writer-our-voices-role-is-to-advocate-not-mediate/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/d2b2f3830fb8c4168cc89982c9156177be4dcea43f054977bd16d5d81dc414a2.json |
[
"Kai Elijah Hamilton Was Born",
"Raised In Western North Carolina. A Poet",
"Screenwriter",
"Playwright",
"He Is Also A Published Film",
"Theater Critic. Hamilton Is A Creative Individual With A Wide Range Of Talents",
"Interests. He Is An Award Winning Actor",
"Tom In",
"The Glass Menagerie",
"Di... | 2016-08-29T20:48:10 | null | 2016-08-15T16:03:46 | This is the story of three Mississippi sisters who’ve drifted apart, but when Babe shoots her abusive husband, tongues start wagging all over town. This stirs wild, wandering songstress Meg homeward to their grandfather’s house where their faithful sister Lenny has been a caregiver. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Farts%2Ftheatre-review-crimes-of-the-heart-at-asheville-community-theatre%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/AlexFooteCrimesOfTheHeartByTommyPropest-1100x1649.jpg | en | null | Theatre Review: Crimes of the Heart at Asheville Community Theatre | null | null | mountainx.com | We’ve all experienced that one single incident in life where everything comes full circle and, for better or for worse, our lives are forever changed. When we have the courage to look back, we’re reminded of those who stood beside us through it all. That’s the theme of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama-winner, Crimes of the Heart. The play, written by Beth Henley, is onstage at Asheville Community Theatre through Sunday, Aug. 28.
This is the story of three Mississippi sisters who’ve drifted apart, but when Babe (played by Sarah Billings) shoots her abusive husband, tongues start wagging all over town. This stirs wild, wandering songstress Meg (played by Reeni Lindblom Dowd) homeward to their grandfather’s house where their faithful sister Lenny (played by Julianne Arnall) has been a caregiver.
Arnall, as the dowdy homebody, matches the atmosphere to perfection. She portrays the character with a sense of hopelessness, a woman lost in life with all the cards stacked against her. She’s the martyr who stayed behind while her sisters blossomed. Arnall emotes joy at her sisters’ reunion, but with an ingenious stunned rattle of discomfort. What a jab in the chest it is to find out Meg has not been reading Lenny’s letters.
Lindblom Dowd, as the unhinged sister, progresses from a simmer to a modest boil by act 2. Her drinking scene with lost-love Doc Porter (played by William Stamey) is truly touching. Lindblom Dowd does a great job portraying a woman whose dreams of becoming a famous singer have faded into oblivion. However, as is the case in most dramatic pieces, her wig takes away from her character’s realism. It was difficult through the majority of the play to suspend disbelief.
Billings, as the irrational sister, is the production’s loosest screw. Babe is meant to promote the play’s tormented heart, and Billings does not rise to the challenge. While not a bad actress, she shows a limited depth. The momentum of the play was often stalled by the incorrectness of the character’s interpretation. Babe is meant to be haunted, not consistently bubbly. Perhaps that spookiness will come within future performances. It’s not an easy role — one that Sissy Spacek was well suited for in the film, so much so that she was nominated for an Oscar.
This women-driven piece was never meant to be about the men. That said, both male characters are relatively flat. Stamey fares better, with a quiet intensity, but David Dowd, as Babe’s lawyer Barnett Lloyd, sounds forced and the performance doesn’t work at all.
The comedy rebounds in the skillful hands of Alex Foote, as the vulture of a cousin, Chick Boyle. In a scene-stealing supporting performance, Foote manages, in one fell swoop, to dart away with this play. Her natural energy excites, awakening even the drowsiest of audience members. Always a viable actress, she’s choosy with her roles and has never quite hit the local mainstream. Consider this Foote’s breakout performance.
ACT never fails in making its productions technically masterful. The scenic design by Jack Lindsay is one of the most beautiful sets in recent memory. Retro wallpaper pops, worn kitchen counters invite us to sit upon them, and a rotary wall-phone with a long cord pleads for us to dial back into our past. Accurate costume design by Carina Lopez flourishes and lighting design by Adam Cohen enhances the forlorn feeling of days gone by. There are places where director Eric Mills could’ve drawn more emotion from the script. The notorious ending, meant to be shocking, was chandelierless and failed to impress. Still, Crimes of the Heart is an attractive venture.
WHAT: Crimes of the Heart
WHERE: Asheville Community Theatre, 35 E Walnut St, AshevilleTheatre.org
WHEN: Through Sunday, Aug. 28. Friday and Saturdays, at 7:30 p.m, matinees on Sundays, at 2:30 p.m. $12-$22. | http://mountainx.com/arts/theatre-review-crimes-of-the-heart-at-asheville-community-theatre/ | en | 2016-08-15T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/257e3338aa49cb2b937354fd7b95ccb581265fca3c8a47c4ddc49323a33038b4.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:48:45 | null | 2016-08-25T11:00:50 | "Unless we band together to fight the encroachment on the soul of Asheville, this will remain a place good folks will choose to only visit." | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fopinion%2Fwhat-price-progress-the-face-of-a-forgotten-neighborhood%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/OPINION-Willie-Mae-Brown-1100x1100.jpg | en | null | What price progress? The face of a forgotten neighborhood | null | null | mountainx.com | BY IRIS LANCASTER AND DIANE MATSUMOTO
Willie Mae Brown has lived in her charming home on White Fawn Drive in Asheville for almost 50 years. With the oratory of a historian, she weaves a remarkable story of the hopes and fears of neighborhood and community — a story that started when she and her husband became only the third black family to move into what was then known as Oakhurst.
Nestled above Biltmore Avenue between McCormick Field and Memorial Stadium to the north, Mission Hospital to the south, and Beaucatcher Mountain to the east, Oakhurst is a neighborhood of approximately 55 homes. Never afraid to stand for what’s right, Brown recounts, with squared shoulders, one of the first greetings she heard shouted from a neighbor: “Ain’t going to have no n*****s living here.”
“Then I suggest you pack up and leave,” Brown shot back, “’cause I’m here to stay.”
It was 1968 when that first unsettling “shot” was heard, but from her lovely front porch, she has watched her neighborhood morph through varying stages of transition. Brown has always stood defiant in fighting for Oakhurst, which she calls a forgotten gem that its occupants now watch in horror as it is eviscerated by development.
The current assault involves a 97-unit apartment building on the corner of White Fawn Drive and Florence Street. Initial plans of a moderate-sized doctor’s office, presumably with allotted parking appropriate to scale, were scrapped. In its stead, currently under construction from a Charlotte developer, is a multitiered apartment behemoth, with only 106 parking spots for presumably 100-plus residents.
In addition to this being very different than the RS-8 zoning of Oakhurst, the city failed to recognize the enormous problems and burdens this apartment complex would pose for the residents of Oakhurst. Already dealing with 70 days of ballpark traffic and parking from nonresidents, this neighborhood is also inundated with employee parking from businesses on Biltmore. Additionally, the proposed Beaucatcher greenway passing through the neighborhood will have the potential to add more traffic and parking demands.
Through disquieting times of downturns in the economy and drug dealers moving into the neighborhood to the current boom time, Brown never sat idle nor was she quieted. A robust giant of a soul packed in a small, strong frame that defies her age, Brown is a model of civic pride and responsibility. Despite her tireless work and all that she has experienced, it is only now that Brown says, “I feel trapped in my home, a prisoner in my neighborhood.”
Diane Matsumoto, left, and Iris Lancaster. Courtesy photo
Even before the 100-plus new tenants move in, current residents during this — quite literally — ear-, house-, and soul-rattling construction time, face a dangerous obstacle course in pursuit of egress and ingress to their homes. For residents, leaving home means hoping the roads aren’t blocked by construction vehicles, ballpark traffic or illegal parking.
Although the size of the building did not legally entail a traffic study to have been done, it is unimaginable that nobody in the city permitting or planning offices visited the neighborhood in advance to make sure that the roads could handle an influx of residents that will increase the population by at least 60 percent. As of now, however, we have no proof that anyone from the city did visit, and four weeks after meeting with the head of the city of Asheville Traffic Engineering Division and two other city representatives, residents are still waiting to hear when the city can schedule a traffic study that should have been done months ago, regardless of whether it was legally necessary.
Where are the stewards of our neighborhoods? We are governed by a new wave of city officials who ran on the promise of keeping the Asheville city experience one that is safe and secure. Asheville continues to face the challenge of how it will be defined as a city. Once thought of as an eclectic mix of folks looking for a cool but inclusive community-centric lifestyle, the city struggles to maintain a semblance of integrity to its intention.
Once a personal refuge, our community is now becoming a battleground. Neighbors band together in meetings that have taken on an almost underground battle stance. Tea talk is pointed and has become a place to discuss the months of jackhammering that has only recently stopped, as well as the lack of sleep due to 81-decibel late-night construction noise that resulted in the city revoking the building’s after-hours construction permit. Discussions of weather and sports are replaced with the travails of the increasingly precarious passage to and from our homes and the hollow offerings of hope by city officials. We wonder if not being a wealthier, more organized neighborhood is the reason that Oakhurst fell target to a project ready to pounce on the unsuspecting.
Brown and her fellow neighbors are not alone in their disbelief of the diminishment of their beloved sacred space. Neither is this a cautionary tale. Unless we band together to fight the encroachment on the soul of Asheville, this will remain a place good folks will choose to only visit.
We ask our city officials to revisit whatever provisions it guarantees the developers it welcomes — and instead first guarantee safe harbor and serenity to its taxpaying residents.
Iris Lancaster and Diane Matsumoto are residents of the Oakhurst neighborhood. | http://mountainx.com/opinion/what-price-progress-the-face-of-a-forgotten-neighborhood/ | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/4cc49f85d8f306898b7b5890519ec2d90dd0c37e1c29aac8da66cfdf2101299a.json |
[
"Eliza Stokes Holds A B.A. In Creative Writing",
"Global Studies Warren Wilson College. She Received The Larry Levis Award For Outstanding Manuscript On Behalf Of The Warren Wilson Mfa Program",
"Won The Anthony Abbott Undergraduate Poetry Contest",
"Has Read For The Juniper Bends Reading Series. Stokes Is A ... | 2016-08-26T22:46:40 | null | 2016-08-26T17:42:17 | Some Asheville-area groups and companies are providing assistance after parts of Louisiana received over 21 inches of rain in two days earlier this month. From cash donations to volunteering on the ground, here are a few ways that Asheville residents can participate in relief efforts for flood victims. Flood relief benefit at the Double Crown Maddy… | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fnews%2Fcommunity-news%2Fasheville-helps-louisiana-after-flooding%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/image4-1100x735.jpg | en | null | Asheville helps Louisiana after flooding | null | null | mountainx.com | Some Asheville-area groups and companies are providing assistance after parts of Louisiana received over 21 inches of rain in two days earlier this month. From cash donations to volunteering on the ground, here are a few ways that Asheville residents can participate in relief efforts for flood victims.
Flood relief benefit at the Double Crown
Maddy and Her Big Nasty Pals will be performing Friday, Aug. 26 at Double Crown at 375 Haywood Road as part of the Louisiana Flood Victim Relief. Show starts at 6 p.m.
Hearts With Hands
Hearts With Hands mobilized volunteers shortly after news of the flooding and is focusing on help for Eunice, La., a small town northwest of Lafayette.
“What was so unreal, when we ended up in Eunice, is we were escorted in by the U.S. Marshall Service and they had already distributed that entire tractor trailer [of our donations] in less than an hour,” recounts Hearts With Hands president Dr. Greg Lentz. The organization has set up a distribution center in collaboration with Central Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, La., and is posting live updates from the region on their Facebook page. They plan to stay in the region throughout the next month.
Hearts With Hands is an Asheville-based humanitarian nonprofit that has provided disaster relief for 23 years. The organization is asking for donations of nonperishable food, baby items, hygiene kits, water and cleaning supplies, as well as cash donations. Donations can be brought to two drop-off locations: Trinity Baptist Church at 216 Shelburne Road in Asheville, and the Hearts With Hands warehouse at 850 Warren Wilson Road in Swannanoa. Donations can also be made through www.heartswithhands.org.
Imladris Farm
Walter Harrill, the co-owner of Imladris Farm in Fairview, will be taking water and food to affected areas on Aug. 27. Harrill is coordinating with the United Way and independent Louisiana shelters and distribution centers that have directly expressed a need for potable water. He has teamed up with California-based BCU Plastics, which has donated thousands of half-gallon potable water containers. For transport, Harrill has packed the water-filled containers in cardboard boxes donated by Custom Packaging in Arden.
After announcing his plan, Harrill says other businesses stepped up to contribute to the effort. “Hickory Nut Gap Farm in Fairview donated a large quantity of beef jerky sticks,” he notes. To donate to his effort, go here.
All Hands Volunteers
For those who are able to travel to Louisiana in person, Massachusetts-based All Hands Volunteers is calling for volunteers to join Louisiana Flood Response, which is currently basing its efforts out of the New Covenant Church in Denham Springs, La. The organization is training volunteers to gut and clean damaged homes at no cost to homeowners, which saves them money and labor in the recovery process. Sherry Buresh, the organization’s director of U.S. Disaster Response, says 80 to 90 percent of homes in Denham Springs have been damaged — typically by 7-8 feet of floodwater. Vulnerable populations like the elderly, single mothers and those with disabilities have most frequently sought out assistance from All Hands Volunteers.
Buresh says the region still has a desperate need for volunteers willing to provide manual labor. “This isn’t just a normal flood, and I’m not so sure that the rest of the world realizes how many people have been impacted,” she says. “Every street has piles of debris almost as high as the houses, and you look at it and realize that [those piles] are people’s lives. Everything they’ve owned and worked for is laying on the curb and ready to be thrown away.”
Volunteers do not need to have prior construction experience, but must have a positive work ethic and be able to pay for travel to and from Louisiana. All Hands Volunteers provides basic housing, three meals on workdays, free training and personal protective equipment, and logistical support. Since the effort is being funded by donations, Buresh encourages those who are unable to travel to donate to the cause. To sign up to be a volunteer or to donate to Louisiana Flood Response, go to www.hands.org. The organization plans to continue working in the area through Oct. 15. | http://mountainx.com/news/community-news/asheville-helps-louisiana-after-flooding/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/228e5895c08a77aa23c36abae3304541b366d74275d0ebb32e4826d66e3b8239.json |
[
"Born In March",
"Lived In Asheville Since September",
"Started Writing Professionally In January Sending Reports Every Week On Or Ahead Of Deadline",
"Like Writing About History",
"Culinary",
"Performing Arts",
"The Good",
"Noble",
"Interesting Things People Do."
] | 2016-08-28T22:47:57 | null | 2016-07-28T10:00:00 | "A recent series of events has called into question whether the civil rights of inmates at Craggy Correctional Center are being violated." | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fopinion%2Fbottling-up-religious-freedom%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Rev.-William-Paul-Austin-1100x1467.jpg | en | null | Bottling up religious freedom: Inmates have rights to rites | null | null | mountainx.com | A recent series of events has called into question whether the civil rights of inmates at Craggy Correctional Center are being violated.
For more than 56 years, the Rev. William Paul Austin has addressed the spiritual needs of others. For the last 29, that’s included celebrating Communion at the old Craggy state prison and Mass at the New Craggy medium- and minimum-security facilities, complete with sacramental bread and wine. Until recently, says the ordained Episcopal priest, there’d never been a problem.
But on April 28, Austin explains, he was approached by two guards who wanted to inspect the box in which he keeps his chalice. They found a bottle containing 3 ounces of wine and asked Austin if he’d brought it for himself. He answered that it was for Communion at the Thursday night Episcopal Mass.
A week later, Austin received a letter from the N.C. Department of Public Safety informing him that he’d been dismissed as a community volunteer for serving alcohol to inmates in violation of departmental policy. According to the Policy & Procedure Manual, “Only the religious official leading the rite may consume alcohol. Inmates are not allowed to consume ANY alcoholic beverages while in the custody of the Department of Public Safety.”
Dated May 5, the letter gave Austin 30 days to submit a written appeal to Cynthia Bostic, assistant director of support services at the Division of Prisons. Austin sent his letter May 25.
Bostic had 30 days to review the case and respond. “I will examine the case in its entirety and go through my regular protocol, gathering any available paperwork concerning the incident,” she told me in a phone interview. “I usually like to reach out and get all the information and any statements. I will review them and make my decision then, and if I need to make anyone aware of any concerns, then I’ll do that too.”
Mark-Ellis Bennett
In a June 24 letter, Bostic told Austin that after reviewing the situation and taking into consideration his lengthy service as a volunteer, the department was willing to overturn his dismissal and reinstate him as a volunteer — with certain conditions. “Prior to your reinstatement,” the letter continued, “you will be required to meet with Mountain Region management staff, attend a community volunteer orientation session and serve a period of probation.”
Asheville attorney Greg Hilderbran is chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina. In that role, he provides legal advice to Bishop Porter Taylor and the governing bodies of the churches in the diocese.
“For decades, Father Austin has provided pastoral care to those persons who are imprisoned. In doing so, he has celebrated Holy Communion with inmates, sharing with them sacramental bread and wine,” notes Hilderbran. “In serving sacramental wine as part of this celebration, Father Austin has relied upon North Carolina General Statute 14-258.1, which provides that it is not unlawful for a priest to do so as part of a religious service. This statute remains in effect.”
In three separate places, the law clearly makes an exception for “an ordained minister or rabbi who gives sacramental wine to an inmate as part of a religious service.” One would think that a North Carolina general statute would prevail over a Department of Public Safety policy.
But communications director Pamela Walker says the department’s Office of General Counsel “doesn’t feel like” the policy contradicts state law. The law, she explains, decriminalizes giving alcohol to prisoners under certain circumstances. “It doesn’t dictate that the department must allow alcohol in its prisons. Our Division of Prisons has a designated policy that says it is a violation.”
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has also weighed in on prisoners’ religious freedom.
Last August, Kristine Guerra, the primary courts reporter for The Indianapolis Star, wrote, “The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in January that a Muslim prisoner can be allowed to grow his beard as part of his religious rights, despite claims by the Arkansas Department of Correction that doing so poses security risks.”
“Moreover,” the report continued, “in 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress can require state institutions to accommodate reasonable religious needs of those under their control, according to a report by The Washington Post. In that case, Ohio argued that the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which was enacted in 2000, creates an incentive for inmates to profess a religious belief so they can receive certain types of privileges that are not available to other inmates. The court rejected that argument.”
The law in question protects the religious rights of prisoners in facilities that receive federal money. In January 2015, correspondent Richard Wolf, who covers the Supreme Court for USA Today, wrote, “A Supreme Court that has extended the reach of religion into public life in recent years ruled Tuesday that spirituality can overcome even prison security concerns.”
Gregory Holt, aka Abdul Maalik Muhammad, had persuaded the court to hear his case with a 15-page, handwritten petition citing his desire to keep a beard as part of his Muslim faith. “The court came down decisively on the side of a Muslim prisoner whose beard had been deemed potentially dangerous by the Arkansas Department of Correction,” the USA Today article reported. “Growing a beard, the justices said, was a Muslim man’s religious right. The unanimous opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, had been widely anticipated despite two lower court decisions upholding the state’s no-beard policy.”
Because of his age and health concerns, Austin feels he’s nearing the end of his ministry. “It’s not about me: It’s about the inmates,” he explains. “They have rights. My grandmother’s great-uncle, [Supreme Court Justice] Joseph Story, said, ‘No one is above the law.’”
Amen to that. Dismissing Austin without so much as a warning after almost three decades of service to the inmates at Craggy Correctional Center seems overly harsh. He finds the terms of the reinstatement offer ridiculous: After all this time, why does he need an orientation? Why should he be on probation when he didn’t break the law?
And in any case, what does Austin’s experience — and the blatant contradiction between state law and departmental policy — say about the potential for further instances of such violations of prisoners’ rights in the future?
Freelance journalist Mark-Ellis Bennett has lived in Asheville since 1985. | http://mountainx.com/opinion/bottling-up-religious-freedom/ | en | 2016-07-28T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/7e604d10518a5a82996ef15ff9d6705b5e71f977fc65d8ca8b1141817fda29e9.json |
[
"Thomas Calder Received His Mfa In Fiction The University Of Houston'S Creative Writing Program. He Has Worked With Several Publications",
"Including Gulf Coast",
"The Collagist. For His Weekly",
"Tuesdayhistory Tidbits On Asheville",
"Follow Him On Instagram"
] | 2016-08-30T20:47:43 | null | 2016-08-30T16:00:32 | The Heavenly Greenhouse Hot Pepper Eating Contest begins with contestants consuming a jalapeño and ends 16 rounds later with the Carolina Reaper. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Ffood%2Fsmall-bites-milk-and-fire%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/PEPPERS-SPLICE.jpg | en | null | Small bites: Milk and fire converge at pepper-eating contest | null | null | mountainx.com | Milk will be in ready supply at Uncle Bill’s Flea Market in Whittier — all 20 contestants of the inaugural Heavenly Greenhouse Hot Pepper Eating Contest will have that beverage available during the 16-round competition. Of course, to drink the milk during the challenge is equivalent to tapping out — an emergency relief for those who can’t handle the heat.
There will also be plenty of heat. “We [are] going to start with a jalapeño,” says Jeff Warren, the event’s creator, “and make our way to the hottest pepper in the world — that’s the Carolina Reaper.” First cultivated in 2004 by Ed Currie, the founder of PuckerButt Pepper Co., the Carolina Reaper came about by crossing a Naga pepper from Pakistan and a habanero from the island of St. Vincent. Before reaching that level, contestants will have to endure the likes of the cayenne, lemon drop, fatalli, chocolate habanero and ghost pepper.
With so much burn and so many different bites in play, contenders will be asked to sign a waiver before sitting down to compete. Along with the emergency milk, Warren will provide each participant a trash bag in case what goes down doesn’t stay down.
“It is going to be one heck of a challenge,” says Joel Mowrey, owner of Smoking J’s Fiery Foods & Farm, who will provide the peppers for the event. His farm raises more than 40 varieties, ranging from mild to the hottest available. Mowrey notes that many pepper-eating contests are about volume — who, for example, can eat the most jalapeños. But the Heavenly Greenhouse Hot Pepper Eating Contest, he says, is about competitors making their way up the Scoville scale.
What's wowing me now The Egg Slut Sandwich at Edison at Omni Grove Park Inn: This brunch-only item is sure to ruffle some feathers and not only because of its name. The eggs are marbleized — not scrambled — in butter, then sandwiched in a buttery roll with thick-cut bacon, cheese and sriracha mayonnaise. Made famous by the Los Angeles restaurant Eggslut, it is a food coma in a bun. After this monster sandwich, expect to make it about 100 yards to the lobby before collapsing into a rocking chair for the remainder of the day.
Bounce houses, a raffle and beer from Innovation Brewing will be part of the event, too (for viewers, not pepper eaters). “We’re hoping a lot of people come and bring their kids and have a good time,” says Warren. The winner will walk away with a money prize, while second- and third-place contestants will be awarded trophies and T-shirts.
“This is a neat challenge for chili heads who have a good tolerance for the heat,” says Mowrey. “It’ll be a real heat-seekers challenge for sure.”
The Heavenly Greenhouse Hot Pepper Eating Contest will take place Saturday, Sept. 10, at 1 p.m., at Uncle Bill’s Flee Market, 5427 U.S.-74, Whittier. The event is free to watch. All contestant chairs have been filled.
BaconFest Asheville returns
Bacon-inspired cuisine returns to the meadow at Highland Brewing Co. for 105.9 The Mountain’s fourth annual BaconFest Asheville. For those who enjoy bacon bits in their dessert, the Swine Sweet Spot, a new feature at this year’s event, will be held inside Highland’s taproom. A VIP experience at Highland’s new mezzanine and rooftop bar is also available for 500 ticket holders. The VIP ticket offers guests exclusive samples. Throughout the day, kid-friendly activities will include face painting, balloon twisters, inflatable bounce houses and more. Live music from Fritz Beer and the Crooked Beat will also be part of the festivities. Attendees older than 18 can cast their vote for the People’s Choice award, the crowd-favorite bacon creation.
BaconFest Asheville is Saturday, Sept. 3 and runs 1-4 p.m. General admission is $15. VIP tickets are $35 (with early entry at noon). The event is free for children 9 and younger, but reservations must be made in advance. Tickets are available from the828.com, keyword BACON. For questions contact Nikki Mitchell at nmitchell@avlradio.com
Inaugural Farm to Village dinner at Historic Biltmore Village
The Cantina, Catawba Brewing, Corner Kitchen, Doubletree Catering, Fig, Hi-Wire Brewing, Red Stag Gill, Rezaz and Village Wayside will be joining forces for the inaugural Farm to Village dinner held in Biltmore Village. Guests will have the opportunity to meet and speak with the event’s chefs and brewers during the five-course meal. Live music will be performed by Simple Folk. All proceeds go to Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project.
Farm to Village begins at 6 p.m Thursday, Sept. 8, at 5 Boston Way. Seats are limited to 100 people. Tickets are $100 per person. To purchase tickets, visit historicbiltmorevillage.com/FarToVillage. For more information on Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, visit asapconnections.org.
Burnsville Dinner on the Square
Burnsville will host Farm to Fork Dining on the Square to raise funds for TRACTOR — Toe River Aggregation Center Training Organization Regional — which works with more than 50 small farms in seven Western North Carolina counties, including Buncombe, Madison and Yancey. The organization collects produce from farms, processes it and distributes it to retailers and restaurants. The event will begin at 6 p.m. with hors d’oeurves at Nu Wray Inn before the multiple-course meal is served on Main Street. Local produce, meats and cheeses produced by TRACTOR growers will make up the menu.
Farm to Fork Dining on the Square begins at 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 4, at Nu-Wray Inn, 102 Town Square, Burnsville. Tickets are $125 each and are available at Yancey County Cooperative Extension office (10 Orchard Drive), TRACTOR office (153 Love Fox Road.) and Yancey County/Burnsville Chamber of Commerce (106 W. Main St.). For addition information, visit TRACTORFoodandFarms.com. | http://mountainx.com/food/small-bites-milk-and-fire/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/5755c5494ac72230150dba4607c8c7ff0763ef3d49482f4c732634d6f86cd9e6.json |
[
"Kat Studied Entrepreneurship",
"Music Business At The University Of Miami",
"Earned Her Mba At Appalachian State University."
] | 2016-08-30T14:47:37 | null | 2016-08-30T10:36:14 | Crank County Daredevils' fall tour begins with a hometown show at The Mothlight on Sunday, Sept. 4. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Farts%2Fsmart-bets-crank-county-daredevils%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/BET-Crank-County-1100x1100.jpg | en | null | Smart bets: Crank County Daredevils | null | null | mountainx.com | Crank County Daredevils’ new single, “Kicked In The Teeth,” bucks and snarls before regrouping for the next verse — kind of like the group itself, which just reunited after six challenging years apart. “It’s part of the DNA of the band to get kicked in the face, and just when you think the fight is over, to get back up and do it again,” says vocalist Scotty P. “I always say there’s no expiration date on this band as long as we’re all above ground and capable of throwing down bare-knuckle rock ‘n’ roll. And we are! [We’re] a little older and scarred like junkyard dogs — and just as mean.” The Daredevils start their fall tour with a hometown show at The Mothlight on Sunday, Sept. 4, at 9:30 p.m. The Go Devils open. $5. themothlight.com. Photo courtesy of the band | http://mountainx.com/arts/smart-bets-crank-county-daredevils/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/8b91c1bd1ad45be067ad0165d2978fcaa4ccf2e71ed45da720df8fd375ba08b7.json |
[
"Lea Mclellan Is A Freelance Writer Who Likes To Write Stories About Music",
"Art",
"Food",
"Wellness",
"Interesting Locals Doing Interesting Things."
] | 2016-08-26T12:51:53 | null | 2016-08-25T13:00:10 | There’s a little bit of everything in Costume at the Turn of the Century, the largest display of costumes and costume design from the turn of this century. The original exhibit was curated by Roussanoff and displayed in Moscow last year. The version on view at UNCA through Wednesday, Sept. 28 — the exhibition’s U.S. debut — includes many of the same designs and highly insured costumes from more than 300 designers representing 31 countries. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Farts%2Func-asheville-hosts-u-s-premiere-of-international-costume-design-exhibit%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Costume-by-Andrey-Bartenev.jpg | en | null | UNC Asheville hosts U.S. premiere of international costume design exhibit | null | null | mountainx.com | Much of the work included in the international exhibition Costume at the Turn of the Century 1990-2015 would fall into the avant-garde category — work that is new and experimental. “As soon as you develop something, it’s already passed,” says Igor Roussanoff, visiting professor of drama at UNC Asheville. That’s the paradox of teaching avant-garde design. “So what you do is you teach appreciation for the art, in the widest way. About music, about culture, about politics, about society, about everything.”
He continues, “And of course if you’re teaching costume, you have to teach the history of costume design. But if you only teach the history of costume, without everything else, it’s not going to work.”
There’s a little bit of everything in Costume at the Turn of the Century, the largest display of costumes and costume design from the turn of this century. The original exhibit was curated by Roussanoff and displayed in Moscow last year. The version on view at UNCA through Wednesday, Sept. 28 — the exhibition’s U.S. debut — includes many of the same designs and highly insured costumes from more than 300 designers representing 31 countries. The collection also comprises original renderings, theatrical production photographs, videos, and — sharing space with the creations of highly regarded professional artists — work from Roussanoff’s students at UNCA and the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, where he taught in July.
The exhibit, which opened earlier this month, can be found in multiple locations throughout the UNCA campus, including the second floor of Zeis Hall, the Cooke and Blowers galleries and the Highsmith Art and Intercultural Gallery. There’s a striking leather-armored raven costume from Serbian designer Angelina Atlagic, a gender-bending Shakespearean costume from Oregon-based artist Alexandra Bonds and structural adornment pieces made from scrap wood by UNCA alumnus Carley Brandau, whose work was also part of the Moscow show.
The aim of the exhibition is to examine costumes around the millennium, but Roussanoff is quick to clarify that he is not interested in analyzing any sort of trend during this period. Instead, he says it is important to understand the costumes in the context of their respective cultures. For example, viewers might not realize that “in Egypt, for a man to take his shirt off, it’s avant-garde,” Roussanoff says. “It’s not about promoting some trend, it’s about seeing the whole picture.”
Roussanoff, who was born in Ukraine and immigrated to the United States in the ’80s, has been working in and teaching costume design for more than 20 years. His motivations for undertaking the project are rooted in education and tolerance, so it’s significant that so many countries are represented in Costume at the Turn of the Century. “We are living in a very diverse society,” he says. “We have Ukrainian artists in the exhibit and Russian artists in the exhibit. Those countries are in a war situation, but it’s not about war. The war will be over at some point, and the great thing is that artists understand that. They know it’s not the artists making this war, but the politicians.”
Former UNCA student Taylor Pico, who is now an MFA candidate in costume design at Mason Gross School of the Arts, visited the original exhibition in Moscow last summer. She describes the experience as diverse and overwhelming. “Whether it’s design aesthetic or even rendering style, it’s important to see what other artists from other countries are doing,” says Pico. “It was definitely inspiring.”
Photos, artist descriptions and more information about Costume at the Turn of the Century 1990-2015 can be found at worldcostumedesign.com.
WHAT: Costume at the Turn of the Century 1990-2015
WHERE: Throughout UNCA campus, including the second floor of Zeis Hall, Cooke and Blowers galleries and the Highsmith Art and Intercultural Gallery
WHEN: Through Wednesday, Sept. 28. Free. avl.mx/2v4 | http://mountainx.com/arts/unc-asheville-hosts-u-s-premiere-of-international-costume-design-exhibit/ | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/535e15bbc78116cbe6e31a8548f8985672cbd68ae19a008823839f8b899069d0.json |
[
"Cathy Holt Is Director Of Heartspeak",
"Listening",
"Speaking The Heart",
"Www.Heartspeakpeace.Com . She Teaches Classes In The Connection Practice",
"Provides Coaching In Heartmath For Personal Resilience. She Is Also A Founding Member Of Asheville Timebank",
"The Green Grannies."
] | 2016-08-27T14:46:51 | null | 2016-08-27T09:00:45 | Now a beloved local happening, the Southeastern Permaculture Gathering has taken place every year since 1994. Permaculture enthusiasts of many ages and experience levels gathered on the grounds of the Arthur Morgan School in Celo Aug. 5-7 to forge connections, gain insights and learn new skills. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fnews%2Fpermaculture-gathering-nurtures-relationships%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/opening-circle-1100x733.jpg | en | null | Permaculture gathering nurtures relationships | null | null | mountainx.com | The Southeastern Permaculture Gathering has been exploring the ecological, agricultural and social aspects of permaculture practices since its beginning in 1994. On the pastoral grounds of the Arthur Morgan School in Celo, near Burnsville, 125 people gathered Aug. 5-7 to camp, teach, share meals and network with like-minded permaculture enthusiasts. As attendee and permaculture expert Chuck Marsh explains, “This weekend reminds us of who we really are, nourishing our bodies, hearts and souls.”
Family get-together
Permaculture looks to nature for inspiration for its principles and practices. It makes sense, then, that the family unit is one of the forms that permaculture enthusiasts draw on when thinking and talking about their movement. “The Gathering is like a family reunion,” says Gred Gross, who has been part of the event since its founding. Seeing younger people join the group and take on leadership roles, Gross continues, “gives me hope for the future, to see the next generation pursuing sustainability.”
Zev Friedman, 35, of Living Systems Design and the School of Integrated Living, is one of those younger leaders who is taking a place at the head of the family. “I keep returning to this community because these folks are caring, open-minded, fun and action-oriented,” says Friedman, who is a resident of Earthaven Ecovillage near Black Mountain. As part of the larger permaculture movement, he explains, “We’re slowly replanting a life-giving culture from the ancestral seeds that have survived in the soil left from composting the failures of the past.”
About a third of this year’s attendees were experiencing the Gathering for the first time. Although most came from North Carolina, people also traveled from Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and Florida, and one person came all the way from New Jersey. Several of the younger folk on hand were associated with the Worldwide Workers on Organic Farms program. The workers spend their summers on local farms, trading their labor for room, board and hands-on education. Attending this and similar gatherings often allows young people to connect with farmers and homesteaders, which can lead to employment or other opportunities.
A reason to hope
Marsh points to a number of new books published over the past year, as well as the proliferation of permaculture courses around the world, as evidence that permaculture is on the rise. He and Friedman say they believe people are drawn to the hopefulness of the philosophy. “We do have the power to provide for much of our own food and to meet our needs through interdependence and cooperation,” Marsh explains.
According to Friedman, the permaculture philosophy is based on three key principles: care for the earth, care for people and returning surplus production back to the ecosystem. Acting in accordance with these principles, Friedman says, allows humans to function as beneficial participants in living systems rather than “just trying to reduce the harm we cause.”
A unique feature of the Gathering is its planning and decision-making process. Rather than attend prearranged classes, participants of the Gathering come together for an “Open Space” planning session. All are invited to propose conversations around topics they are passionate about, to share what they know and to learn. The Open Space model encourages people to “vote with their feet,” that is, to choose offerings that resonate with them. Playful mottos promote a natural, nonhierarchical learning experience: Whoever comes are the right people. Whatever happens is the only thing that could have happened. When it’s over, it’s over.
From mushrooms to dowsing rods
Educational offerings at this year’s Gathering included identifying edible plants and mushrooms, caring for organic orchards, finding water with dowsing rods, building on steep slopes, making medicinal herbal tinctures, storytelling, resolving community conflicts and identifying trees. “How to talk about permaculture with your Aunt Mary” was a session on communicating with people who follow a conventional lifestyle and don’t really “get” the permaculture approach.
A tour of nearby Mountain Gardens allowed participants to wander through the horticultural enterprise created by Joe Hollis, who grows hundreds of medicinals, including many Chinese herbs.
FUN WITH FUNGI: Mushroom expert Ken Crouse revealed an astonishing variety of local mushrooms to those taking part in his mushroom walks. Photo by Gary Kent
Longtime Gathering participant Rhea Ormond hand-paints themed T-shirts to commemorate each year’s event. Ormond comments that the presence of mushroom expert Ken Crouse and foraging teacher Alan Muskat made this year special for her. “I learned that Celo has over 3,000 different mushrooms, including many edibles and medicinals. I’ve lived here over 30 years, and that was a new aspect of this magical place that I didn’t know,” she says.
New to the event this year was a “Red Tent.” In traditional cultures, a Red Tent provided women with a place of refuge during their monthly cycle or a place for women to gather away from men. At this Gathering, however, the Red Tent was open to all for events ranging from a tea ceremony to a discussion on healing sexual trauma. “The Red Tent became a spiritual space for folks to gather,” Ormond says. “It provided a much-needed focus on the divine feminine.” Both men and women participated in meetings in the space, she reports.
Seeds, sprouts and harvests
Seed saving is an important value in permaculture, and the practice lies at the heart of most indigenous cultures. A seed exchange is held each year at the Gathering, thanks in large part to contributions from Lee Barnes. The Carolina Farm Stewardship Association named Barnes its Activist of the Year in 2014 for his many years of seed saving and sharing. “The seed exchange also exists as a metaphor for sharing what we have nurtured and grown,” Friedman explains.
In indigenous, seed-honoring Mayan cultures, children are referred to as “sprouts.” The children at the Gathering were engaged in pressing apples for cider, baking bread enriched with herbs and flowers, and helping make props such as a giant sun for the Saturday night ceremony.
Poignantly, Kimchi Rylander of Earthaven Ecovillage, the group’s beloved registrar for many years, was not present due to illness. She sent a message to all participants: “Gather and enjoy the harvest.” Her words encouraged many expressions of gratitude from participants, not just for the bountiful food but also for the abundant social connections and learnings.
Patricia Allison, permaculture teacher and founder of Medicine Wheel Collective at Earthaven Ecovillage, experienced the support of the Gathering family when she injured her knee over the weekend. “The compassionate care I received from at least a dozen people scurrying to get me crutches, ice, ibuprofen and an Ace bandage, then offering help throughout the weekend, was amazing,” she recalls. “That’s the kind of family we all want.”
Editor’s note: Writer Cathy Holt was a participant in this year’s Gathering. | http://mountainx.com/news/permaculture-gathering-nurtures-relationships/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/906c42b61f4165607f12c5947c661dbab688db9712a91aa53861649257a0794b.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T16:47:21 | null | 2016-08-29T11:02:48 | Local wellness, food and art vendors converged on Pack Square Park on Sunday to celebrate all things organic and sustainable. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fnews%2Fin-photos-15th-annual-organicfest%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/OrganicFest-19-1100x733.jpg | en | null | In photos: 15th annual Organicfest | null | null | mountainx.com | The 15th Annual Organicfest, held Aug. 28 in Pack Square Park, celebrated all things green, organic, local and sustainable. A wide variety of health-focused and environmentally conscious vendors offered sustainably sourced, organic whole foods, wellness services, arts and crafts for kids and live music performances, plus the downtown water park, Splashville, was open all day to keep the kids to stay cool in the summer heat.
“In celebration of National Organic Month,” says festival organizer Debi Athos, “the Organicfest was created to spotlight, connect, share and grow our rich organic community of farmers, artists and businesses with our community. Organicfest is presented by a local, all-volunteer nonprofit group in partnership with Asheville Greenworks to present a low impact, green event.” This year’s festival brought plenty of ecofriendly fun to downtown Asheville.
Photo gallery by AM Photography: | http://mountainx.com/news/in-photos-15th-annual-organicfest/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/975e1a56b35ef932d171bbd69bac6d85fc836a0d1664d84b56cd22b1b88342e1.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T20:48:09 | null | 2016-08-28T22:18:42 | Local progressive electro-fusion sensations Deja Fuze are dropping their new CD, "Some Sort of Green", at a release show at Asheville Music Hall this Friday, September 2nd. You can be there, bring a friend and take the new album home for free. To help you get down and shake your tail, The Space Cowboys & the… | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fpromo%2Fticket-giveaway-deja-fuze-cd-release-party-at-asheville-music-hall%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Deja-Fuze-CD-release-show1.jpg | en | null | Ticket Giveaway! Deja Fuze CD release party at Asheville Music Hall | null | null | mountainx.com | Local progressive electro-fusion sensations Deja Fuze are dropping their new CD, “Some Sort of Green”, at a release show at Asheville Music Hall this Friday, September 2nd. You can be there, bring a friend and take the new album home for free. To help you get down and shake your tail, The Space Cowboys & the Cosmic Girls and Jamiroquai Tribute will also be in on the show.
Comment below before midnight on Wednesday, August 31 and you’ll be entered to win one of two pairs of tickets. Winners will also get a copy of the new CD, so don’t miss out. 18 years of age and over please. Good Luck!
What: Deja Fuze CD release show with The Space Cowboys & the Cosmic Girls and Jamiroquai Tribute
Where: Asheville Music Hall
When: Friday, Sept,2 2016. Doors open at 9 p.m. | http://mountainx.com/promo/ticket-giveaway-deja-fuze-cd-release-party-at-asheville-music-hall/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/dd5f1738449456351c68cb917aab6eec479eae34d28f166767aa9848111ba8b9.json |
[
"Music Journalist",
"Historian",
"Collector",
"Musician. In That Order"
] | 2016-08-30T16:47:35 | null | 2016-08-30T12:00:51 | The Other Way Around tackles many of these big-picture themes, but LaMotte's approach is subtle. “I don't like songs that are all message-y, that hit people over the head,” he says. His music almost always has an objective, “but I want to make the point artfully, in such a way that people can interpret it as they like.” | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Farts%2Fdavid-lamotte-releases-his-first-new-album-in-a-decade%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/David_LaMotte-1100x734.jpg | en | null | David LaMotte releases his first new album in a decade | null | null | mountainx.com | Before 2006, David LaMotte was an extremely busy musician. “In those first 18 years, I kicked out 10 records,” he says. But in the decade that followed, he released exactly zero albums of new material. It wasn’t that he had gone inactive or had even stopped writing music; he was simply involved in other pursuits. But the Black Mountain-based singer-songwriter’s long quiet spell ends Friday, Sept. 2, with the release of The Other Way Around and a concert at the Diana Wortham Theatre.
That time away from recording and performance found LaMotte, his wife, Deanna, and their son traveling the globe. “I moved to Australia to [earn] a master’s degree in peace studies,” he says. He also spent time with a development organization in India.
“When we got back to the States,” LaMotte says, “I got wrapped up in stuff that was important to me.” He wrote the book Worldchanging 101. He and his wife started PEG Partners, a nonprofit organization, to support education in Guatemala. “And being a dad occupies a lot of time, too,” he adds.
But music continued to tug at LaMotte: “I kept writing songs all the time.” To have done otherwise, he laughs, “would have been unhealthy, a bad idea.” He began performing again around 2012. By the time the musician made the decision to record and release a new album, he was stunned to realize that an entire decade had passed.
LaMotte continues to be deeply immersed in his roles as speaker and author; making music simply has to find its place in that mix. When he’s booked as a speaker, he’s sometimes asked to weave music into the program. “I’ve tried that a few times,” he says. “It seems like it ought to work. But it’s a trainwreck. I’m talking about things that are fairly academic, stacking ideas on top of each other. To stop in the middle of that flow, when I’m getting passionate about that, just doesn’t work.”
But there is a good bit of overlap in the worldview LaMotte brings to his various pursuits. Asked to illustrate that common ground in the form of a Venn diagram, he makes two thumb-and-forefinger circles, and overlaps them nearly completely. The energy and messages are complementary, he says. “The peace and justice work with which I’m involved is really about rehumanizing each other. And even though we all have different experiences, we’re all painting off the same palette of emotions.”
The Other Way Around tackles many of these big-picture themes, but LaMotte’s approach is subtle. “I don’t like songs that are all message-y, that hit people over the head,” he says. His music almost always has an objective, “but I want to make the point artfully, in such a way that people can interpret it as they like.”
He prefers to write “from an oblique angle, leaving room for the listener’s experience.” LaMotte recalls the best stagecraft advice he’s ever received, one night long ago at The Grey Eagle. Bill Melanson of the Billys told him, “I want you to strike these words from your vocabulary: ‘This is a song about …’”
LaMotte’s new album brings together the fruits of his efforts in one particularly notable way. He first met the then-12-year-old José “Pepe” Patzan in Guatemala at a music school that PEG Partners had co-founded. Patzan went through the school’s entire course of study; today he is a professional musician and teacher. Patzan plays marimba on the track “Angelita” on The Other Way Around, and LaMotte is visibly proud of having played a role in Patzan’s life.
The Diana Wortham concert will mark the official release of LaMotte’s new album, and the show will feature a long list of well-known local guests, including Leeda “Lyric” Jones, BJ Leiderman, Tom Prasada-Rao, Ian Ridenhour and many others.
Connection between people has always been key to LaMotte’s music; even a quarter-century ago, he was self-releasing his albums and directly building relationships with listeners. The Other Way Around continues that approach: The album was crowdfunded via a successful Kickstarter campaign. “We all have a lot of the same hopes and dreams,” the artist points out. He believes that music helps bring people together via shared experience: “It connects our hearts.”
WHO: David LaMotte’s The Other Way Around release concert
WHERE: Diana Wortham Theatre, 2 Pack Square, dwtheatre.com
WHEN: Friday, Sep. 2, 8 p.m. $25 | http://mountainx.com/arts/david-lamotte-releases-his-first-new-album-in-a-decade/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/2a248f5a14e4c68e837d89e2f0b6f6a283946f0849177f6a58bd0647bf956d28.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:53:26 | null | 2016-08-25T16:17:15 | Candidates for the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners laid out their thoughts on issues facing the county during a debate on Thursday, Aug. 25. Topics ranged from property tax rates to affordable housing. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fnews%2Fcounty-commissioner-candidates-talk-taxes-affordable-housing%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/BCC-CIBO-1100x825.jpg | en | null | County commissioner candidates talk taxes, affordable housing | null | null | mountainx.com | Candidates for the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners answered questions about infrastructure, affordable housing and other issues during a Council of Independent Business Owners-sponsored debate on Thursday, Aug. 25. Five of the seven seats on the county board are up for grabs in November’s general election. The District 3 short-term seat will be a two-year term, as it was created by Miranda DeBruhl’s resignation from the board.
The following are highlights from the candidates’ introductory statements and answers to questions.
County chair candidates Republican Chuck Archerd and Democrat Brownie Newman
Chuck Archerd said, “I’m a taxpayer just like you, running because I feel the county needs financial guidance.” He cited the county’s debt as a major concern. Archer discussed his experience as a certified personal accountant and commented that he has, “Financial expertise to talk turkey and sell the county to potential employers.” He said he’s in favor of keeping the tax rate the same, noting, “It’s important we control our taxes because that’s money you earn and that the government takes out of your pocket.” Archered cited traffic mitigation as the greatest infrastructure need, saying he’s constantly stuck on Hendersonville Road. He also said making sure the Interstate 26 connector is eight lanes wide is vital for the future. With regard to affordable housing, he said it’s a supply and demand issue; he said he believes excessive regulations and their associated costs are driving up the cost of housing. “There’s no magic bullet. The free market should solve the problem and that’s better than the government,” he said.
Brownie Newman touted his experience as a vice president of a solar company and growing it from seven to 70 employees. He said he is, “Committed to listening to all people of the county.” Newman said he wants to continue to make the county a good place for small business while attracting new companies here. “I would like to broaden economic development incentives for smaller businesses,” he said. Newman said it’s imperative to remain fiscally responsible because, “When we have our house in order it makes us an attractive place for business.” In regard to raising taxes, Newman said not being able to predict the future means he can’t pledge that he wouldn’t. But he noted that, during his time on Asheville City Council and county commission, “I have voted to raise the property tax rate one time.” Newman said the most important infrastructure need is public schools. On affordable housing, he said the county needs to look at its land use plan and provide financial incentives for affordable housing.
District 2 Republican incumbent Mike Fryar and Democrat Nancy Nehls Nelson
Nancy Nehls Nelson said her experience as a project manager will be beneficial in county government, noting she knows how to get a project in on-time and on-budget. In regard to raising the property tax rate, she said she doesn’t want to raise taxes, but, “They may go up. As long as Asheville and Buncombe County tell the world they are a destination city, we are going to have to balance needs of temporary tax payers and people that live here now.” Nehls Nelson also stressed the importance of working with lawmakers in Raleigh, especially when it comes to public school funding. She listed the Interstate 26 connector as the most important infrastructure need and said the county needs to work with the Department of Transportation as the project moves forward. In regard to affordable housing she said, “Unless people are vetted to buy affordable homes they will be snapped up as second homes. Destination cities always have this issue and I don’t have the answer today.”
Mike Fryar said he got into politics because there was, “Too much money being spent.” He noted that he balances keeping education a priority while simultaneously stressing fiscal conservatism. Fryar said he doesn’t want to raise the property tax rate but fears other county commissioners will raise it when property tax revaluations are finished in early 2017. He listed traffic as his top infrastructure priority; he also pointed out that the county doesn’t actually own any roads, making traffic difficult for county officials to control. On affordable housing, Fryar said, “I don’t see it. A lot of sheriff’s deputies can’t afford to live in Buncombe County. Taxes going up means rents are going up.”
District 3 Republican incumbent Joe Belcher and Democrat Ed Hay
Joe Belcher described himself as a “Bible-believing Christian” and said he’s motivated by family. He said he makes political decisions, “Through a filter of compassion and then I look at where we can save money.” Belcher said it’s the first time three new schools will open in one year and they were done with fiscal responsibility. He said he doesn’t want to raise the property tax rate: “It’s my intent to continue, no matter what the property reevaluations are, to make fiscally responsible decisions based on what my constituents tell me. I intend to keep taxes down with sound business practices.” Belcher said the Interstate 26 connector is his top infrastructure priority, lamenting that, “The work is being done when the traffic is showing up.” He also touted the revenue being generated by the new Asheville Outlet Malls, noting they are helping fund education. On affordable housing he said it can’t all be concentrated in the city.
Ed Hay spent six years on Asheville City Council and said, “The county is faced with historic decisions on how to go forward.” He noted concerns about managing the county’s growth. As a resident of South Asheville, Hay said he sees a significant amount of construction and wants to harness business development dollars instead of taxing homeowners. He said bus lines should be a top infrastructure priority, noting that the county and city could partner to extend bus service throughout the county. Taking cars off roads, he continued, would help reduce traffic. Hay again suggested working with the city in regard to affordable housing while stressing, “Local government should have a role in the creation of affordable housing.”
District 3 partial-term candidates Democrat David King and Republican Robert Pressley
Robert Pressley said he’s running for office because he’s “Looking out for the future of my kids and grandkids,” while noting he would advocate for education and fiscal responsibility. He said he wants to, “Keep Buncombe County the way it was 50 years ago,” and shape the way it will be in 50 years. Pressley said he understands nobody likes property tax increases. He said he believes people moving here is driving up property taxes, noting he’s fine with taxes supporting law enforcement and education. Pressley said that the Interstate 26 connector is a top infrastructure priority, while also stressing the importance of keeping existing jobs and companies in Buncombe County. “We need to work with small businesses because they are the future,” he said. On the subject of affordable housing, Pressley said, “The demand of people wanting to move to Buncombe County is limiting where affordable housing can be. We are running out of land here in Western North Carolina.” He also said he would be in favor of partnering with the city to address the issue.
David King said he’s running because, “This is my home. We need people willing to look to the future but not go to the past.” He said he’s not in favor of raising the property tax rate, but he also doesn’t know what the future holds. “I will work diligently to keep taxes in line. The best way to do that is to improve industry and have people move here. That gives us a diverse tax base,” he said. He also noted that the county needs to recruit new business and support current companies. King listed the Interstate 26 connector as the number one infrastructure priority, while also saying he supports investing in health and human services, such as child protection and law enforcement. In regard to affordable housing he said, “At the end of the day real solutions come through the private sector,” and said the county’s desirability makes it difficult.
District 1 candidate Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, running unopposed
Jasmine Beach-Ferrara is the presumed winner of District 1 as she is running unopposed. She made a brief statement and said she draws inspiration from being raised by a single mother; she said she is focused on service. Beach-Ferrara added that she wants to create a Buncombe County where everyone can thrive and a place where children are a priority. | http://mountainx.com/news/county-commissioner-candidates-talk-taxes-affordable-housing/ | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/dab819a2a6e2d0e2f63c0bdf1762bda3f6acb0369c8017aac1c7b3e0fcce51d8.json |
[
"Native Asheville Writer",
"Eater",
"Drinker",
"Bartender",
"Musician. Proprietor Of Www.Dirty-Spoon.Com"
] | 2016-08-26T20:46:36 | null | 2016-08-26T15:00:44 | The new downtown al fresco food and drink venue joins a recent wave of rooftop bar openings. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Ffood%2Fa-room-with-a-view-montford-rooftop-bar-opens-at-hyatt-place%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/MontfordBar_dusty_allison-1100x825.jpg | en | null | A room with a view: Montford Rooftop Bar opens at Hyatt Place | null | null | mountainx.com | When The Montford Rooftop Bar at the new downtown Hyatt Place hotel debuted on Aug. 25, it joined what appears to be a new trend in Asheville of offering rooftop venues for eating and drinking. Who can say why it took so long for the concept to take hold here, but with the recent openings of new rooftop patios at Highland Brewing Co. and the Hilton Garden Inn, it certainly has become the summer of al fresco experiences.
The Montford’s 53-seat bar has a classic, lodge-like feel, with earth-toned fabrics, natural woodgrains, leather and exposed brick. The colors pair nicely with the views of blue ridges, green trees and bursting orange and yellow sunsets. With the patio facing west, it might prove to be one of the clearest, most unobstructed views of the mountains from downtown. It isn’t one of those vistas interrupted by the sprawling decay of rooftop air conditioning units and fire escapes. Instead, guests can see the hint of bridges on the highway and catch a glimpse of the roofs of houses in the distance, all wrapped up in green trees that fade to blue and purple mountains.
As for the cocktails, beverage director Paul Peffer offers a carefully curated list. The signature Montford mule is a variation on the classic Moscow mule, this time pairing Covington vodka, Amaro Montenegro, ginger, black tea, sorghum and lime. For those wanting something fruity, the Black Mountain mai tai combines rum with flavors of blackberry, almond, cinnamon and lemon. And for the more adventurous, there’s the Boonie & Clyde, made with scotch, amaro and Lillet. Prices range from $11-$14.
“A lot of my drinks draw from tiki influences. Having something a little more whimsical up here with the views and keeping it kind of light hearted is the idea.” Says Peffer, “But that being said, we still want to keep it interesting and challenge people’s palates a little bit.”
The food menu leans heavily on shared plates and smaller bites from chef Philip Bollhoefer, formerly a chef at the Edison at the Grove Park Inn. Offerings lean heavily on local products and partnerships with local farms and the Appalachian Sustainable Agricultural Project. Items such as the boiled-peanut hummus, deviled eggs with Sunburst Farms trout roe and oysters with Wicked Weed sour beer gel all tip a hat to the South without using it as a crutch. Or as Peffer explains, “We’re trying to do stuff with a local flair, but not necessarily married to Southern cuisine.”
The Montford Rooftop Bar is at 199 Haywood St. Hours are 4-11 p.m. Sunday -Thursday and 4 p.m.-midnight Fridays and Saturdays. | http://mountainx.com/food/a-room-with-a-view-montford-rooftop-bar-opens-at-hyatt-place/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/1771d4fed0f5eb4a3671ada17eae9674e775dc7d1d861e016dcf13458bf85440.json |
[
"Emily Is A Freelance Writer Passionate About Health",
"Humor"
] | 2016-08-28T20:47:54 | null | 2016-08-18T07:00:52 | Advance healthcare directives help doctors and loved ones make end-of-life care decisions, but only if patients have prepared directives and communicated them ahead of time. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fliving%2Fadvance-directives-help-patients-create-end-of-life-road-maps%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/IMG_6925.jpeg | en | null | Advance directives help patients create end-of-life road maps | null | null | mountainx.com | What choices would you like loved ones to make for your end-of-life care? Advance directives can help them avoid administrative hassles that interfere with patients’ wishes during an often emotional time, say a local attorney and a end-of-life service provider.
“When my mom was 80 years old, she had a stroke. Immediately afterward, she was cogent but cloudy,” says an Asheville man who prefers to remain anonymous. His mother had not made her medical wishes known in any formal way, he says.
“She more or less told my siblings and me, ‘I want to die,’ and [she] was moved to critical care shortly after.”
But the elderly woman remained on life-support measures for nearly a year. Meanwhile, it took time for the eight surviving adult siblings to reach a consensus on her care, says the Asheville man. A lack of dedicated guidance from the hospital impeded the process, he says. “The medical machine is great at extracting money from people, for keeping them alive through Medicare and insurance, without considering quality of life. … There’s no room for conversation about what should actually happen.”
Eventually, the siblings agreed to remove their mother from life support and be with her when she died, the Asheville man says. “But it took my sister’s partner, a professional facilitator who had an outsider’s perspective, to say, ‘This is not good for your mom,’ before everyone could make the conscious shift to let it happen.”
From home to hospital
Asheville attorney Eva Clement offers a legal perspective on end-of-life experiences like these: Until a few decades ago, the vast majority of Americans died at home, but now, at-home deaths are rare, she says. “The legal world hasn’t totally caught up with how drastically that shift happened,” says Clement.
“We’re caught in this really awkward place between the medical profession’s legal requirement to extend life, regardless of what that really looks like, and the reality, which is that most people do not want to artificially extend their life with no regard to cost or quality of life.”
Advance health care directives are a proactive measure against this end-of-life gray area and the painful scenarios it can cause, she explains.
Advance directives
By stating patients’ medical care preferences regarding terminal illness, incapacitation and death ahead of time, advance directives assist surviving family members in making critical decisions when patients can no longer speak for themselves. Advance directives are often known as “living wills,” though the latter term is sometimes used more narrowly in reference to specific types of directives.
Advance directives also free medical professionals from liability, a key reason that hospitals provide prolonged, expensive care when patients are terminal. In practice, the “do no harm” obligation often precludes end-of-life measures like the removal of a ventilator or feeding tube. But following a patient’s wishes, whether spoken or through an advance directive, releases the medical staff from liability.
In a living will, Clement explains, people state their wishes about when to receive life-sustaining measures, such as feeding tubes and artificial respiration, versus palliative care, which focuses on relieving pain and easing symptoms. Directives may also include other types of medical self-determination, such as choosing to be an organ donor or not.
Despite the benefits of advance directives, there are widespread problems with establishing and enforcing them, says Clement. “For one, most people don’t have them,” she says, “and the people who actually have [directives] don’t make them well-known enough to be put into practice.”
A participation problem
According to a 2014 study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, fewer than 27 percent of adults have prepared advance health care directives.
Cultural attitudes about death contribute to the lack of participation, says Caroline Yongue, founder of the Asheville-based nonprofit Center for End of Life Transitions. CEOLT helps individuals prepare for death through education and alternative hospice and burial services. “All of us are going to die,” says Yongue. “People forget that. They don’t want to look at that,” she says.
Yongue once worked as a home funeral director but began offering workshops on advance directives, based on her observation that no one was prepared for death. “We’ve got lots of choices,” she says. “Most people are unaware of what their choices are and are misinformed about what they have to do.”
Not everyone has a concept of what advance directives are, say both Yongue and Clement, and those who do often face vague definitions and requirements. Standards vary from state to state, and in most states, directives may be approached in different ways.
In North Carolina, state-issued forms exist (see “More Info”), but directives can also be established through other written or spoken communication. “Even a very simple expression of your wishes has to be taken into consideration by your doctor,” Clement explains. “If you were to Google ‘North Carolina advance directives,’ you would find a handful of forms, but none of them would be actually required.”
One person’s directives might consist of a heartfelt set of written wishes accompanied by a comprehensive set of documents, while another may choose to check boxes on a form.
Yongue teaches advance-directive workshops that allow plenty of room for spirituality and reflection, too. “We break a nine-hour class into three sessions. We can’t do it all in one day because it’s too much,” she says. “What does it mean to have a health care agent? What does it mean to have a living will?” Yongue continues.
Answering such questions isn’t easy, she says, and in the process, “What arises are people’s fears, their beliefs, their postures.”
Clement says she often adds advance directives when making a client’s will. “Otherwise, people don’t think about it and would never do it on their own,” she says. But the extra effort might go a long way.
Good communication
Even when advance directives exist, they are rendered useless when not communicated properly.
An individual may express a desire for a natural death on paper but not tell family and friends. Unaware of the documentation, they’re left to guess the incapacitated person’s wishes. Clement advises, “Best-case scenario, you have the written document, you’ve [also] had ongoing verbal conversations with your doctor, and your friends and family know what’s going on.”
Out-of-date directives can also be a common problem. Often created at the same time as a will (or after a diagnosis or other catastrophic event), the instructions may be forgotten by the time they’re needed. Yongue suggests, “I think they should teach advance directives in high school. … And you should revisit them every year during your birthday month. ”
Improvements to come?
The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act originally included a provision for paying doctors to dispense advice on end-of-life planning. But then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and others claimed that such counseling would create “death panels” — a bureaucratic rationing of health care by the U.S. government. Federal funding for medical advice on advance directives lost momentum as a result of political pressure by opponents.
“If you’re going to receive Medicare funding, you’ve got to have a written protocol in place for seeing if patients have advance directives in place, and then following them,” says Clement, citing federal law.
But the law doesn’t require patients to prepare advance directives, nor does it provide funding for advance directive counseling. Some private health insurers have started reimbursing patients who seek assistance in end-of-life planning, but this practice is far from widespread.
The proposed Care Planning Act (S. 1549), a bipartisan bill sponsored by Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., would extend Medicare coverage to include advance-directive planning and require that the contents of the directives be featured prominently in a patient’s medical record. The bill would also give patients an option to sign a “portable treatment order” requiring Medicare-certified providers to comply with the order in any care setting. This could prevent patients from receiving unwanted life-prolonging care in their home only to later be brought to a hospital against their wishes.
“Of course, it would be a good idea for Medicare to cover advance-directive planning,” says Yongue. “Then more people would have them, and more people would have a good death.”
MORE INFO
At sosnc.gov/ahcdr, the N. C. secretary of state offers free forms that meet the legal requirements for several kinds of advance directives, as well as a state-administered Advance Healthcare Directive Registry. While not necessary for creating effective directives, they help establish a framework for communicating one’s desires.
These forms include:
Health care power of attorney , in which you designate another individual as a health care agent when you cannot make decisions on your own.
, in which you designate another individual as a health care agent when you cannot make decisions on your own. Living will , which lets you identify the situations in which you would prefer not to receive life-prolonging measures like feeding tubes, hydration and ventilation.
, which lets you identify the situations in which you would prefer not to receive life-prolonging measures like feeding tubes, hydration and ventilation. Advance instruction for mental health treatment, which identifies which mental health treatments you would consent to and which you would refuse.
The Advance Healthcare Directive Registry is an online lockbox for storing advance-directive documents that can be made available to health care personnel and family members. Full instructions for using the registry are at sosnc.gov/ahcdr.
Use of the registry does not bypass the need to make directive documents accessible elsewhere. Third parties, such as health care providers and family members, cannot view documents in it without a state-assigned file number and password. Only the author of the directives can choose whether to share this requisite access information.
It is not legally necessary to have professional help completing advance directives, but it could help clarify a nebulous process and foster improved communication by facilitating discussion of end-of-life matters.
CEOLT offers advance directive workshops in Western North Carolina; class descriptions are at ceolt.org/events/advanced-care-and-after-death-care-directives. Alternatively, individuals can consult an attorney who specializes in estate planning or health care law, or ask their primary care physician for more information. | http://mountainx.com/living/advance-directives-help-patients-create-end-of-life-road-maps/ | en | 2016-08-18T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/193a24f5250ff63b5e4c5abc913dc0d6fe97bf27ecbaa537d5648de25566e48c.json |
[
"We Want To Hear You",
"Send Your Letters",
"Commentary To Letters Mountainx.Com"
] | 2016-08-28T22:47:58 | null | 2014-11-04T21:38:25 | Is Al Gore actually living in Henderson County and [did he do] the Randy Molton cartoon in the Oct. 22 issue of Mountain Xpress under a pseudonym? Gore, back on Dec. 14, 2009, said declaratively that the polar ice caps would be gone in five years. We are approaching the five-year anniversary of that proclamation, and yet… | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fopinion%2Foceanfront-property-in-asheville%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/themes/mx/img/logo-default.svg | en | null | Oceanfront property in Asheville? | null | null | mountainx.com | Is Al Gore actually living in Henderson County and [did he do] the Randy Molton cartoon in the Oct. 22 issue of Mountain Xpress under a pseudonym?
Gore, back on Dec. 14, 2009, said declaratively that the polar ice caps would be gone in five years. We are approaching the five-year anniversary of that proclamation, and yet the ice caps are still there, and I don’t have the valuable ocean front property in Henderson County.
But the current Molton cartoon indicates the Atlantic Ocean will cover North Carolina back to Western North Carolina, and that will make Asheville the “progressive” capital of North Carolina. Surely, this would make the progressive/liberals of Asheville festive. Who would have thunk it?
Why would “Al” buy a $8.9 million Malibu Montecito Villa beachfront property, some one and a half acres, with a sea wall of only 20 feet if the Pacific Ocean is going to cover this expensive property? It is a house with swimming pool, spa and fountains, high ceilings with beams in the public rooms, family room, wine cellar, terraces, six fireplaces, five bedrooms, nine bathrooms and some 6,500 feet of living space? Might be a great idea to sell before it is lost to the Pacific? What is the infamous carbon footprint of this large property? The photo on the Internet shows no solar panels on the roof and no windmill in the back yard.
Are the Dutch peoples in the Netherlands, who have battled the Atlantic for many decades, giving up and escaping to the Alps?
Was the recent typhoon that hit the Philippines and Japan larger than the one I survived on the USS Epperson in 1968 between Pearl Harbor and Japan where we encountered 60-foot swells? Are the storms larger in 2014?
This past summer was touted in the national media as the hottest on record nationally, but here in Mountain Home we only used the air-conditioning less than two weeks total.
Are we getting the truth about “global…” oops, “climate change” or just a huge shovel of poppycock?
Fuller Moore
Mountain Home | http://mountainx.com/opinion/oceanfront-property-in-asheville/ | en | 2014-11-04T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/9fb7a9406a8aa4af8d0af7d58d1277b027edf73823d06cf81d3cac45cb6f5d62.json |
[
"Thomas Calder Received His Mfa In Fiction The University Of Houston'S Creative Writing Program. He Has Worked With Several Publications",
"Including Gulf Coast",
"The Collagist. For His Weekly",
"Tuesdayhistory Tidbits On Asheville",
"Follow Him On Instagram"
] | 2016-08-30T20:47:45 | null | 2016-08-30T15:00:17 | Sergeant Daniel A. Kanipe, a native of McDowell County and resident of Marion, was a member of Gen. George Armstrong Custer’s doomed 7th Calvary. Additional background on the Battle of Little Bighorn, as well as more recent debates surrounding Kanipe’s role in the fight, can be found here. A state historical marker outside Kanipe’s home… | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2Ftuesday-history-carrying-custers-final-command%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Daniel-A.-Kanipe.png | en | null | Tuesday History: Carrying Custer’s final command | null | null | mountainx.com | Sergeant Daniel A. Kanipe, a native of McDowell County and resident of Marion, was a member of Gen. George Armstrong Custer’s doomed 7th Calvary. Additional background on the Battle of Little Bighorn, as well as more recent debates surrounding Kanipe’s role in the fight, can be found here. A state historical marker outside Kanipe’s home on Rutherford Road in Marion states Kanipe “witnessed defeat of Geo. A Custer.” However, Kanipe did not actually partake in the fight. He was the bearer of Custer’s last order, leaving before the battle began.
Kanipe died in Marion in 1926. Among the items found after his death was a memorandum of his experience in the campaign. His recollections are included in an undated document written by James E. Dean Jr., titled, “Western North Carolina Man Fought with Custer Against Sioux,” available at Pack Memorial Library’s Special Collections, North Carolina Room.
Thanks as always to the North Carolina Room for its ongoing assistance.
Daniel A. Kanipe writes:
General Custer with his five troops went in a gallop down Mud Creek toward the Little Big Horn River. About half way down this river we came to a vacated Indian tepee containing one dead Indian. At this place Major Reno came into sight on the left side of Mud Creek. He was signalled [sic] to cross the Creek to Custer where he apparently received orders to charge the Indian camps. Reno and his men went at a gallop down Mud Creek across the Little Big Horn River and down the valley toward the south end of the Indian camps.
General Custer followed the south end of the Indian camps, same route taken by Reno, a short distance, then turned squarely to the right, charging up the bluffs on the banks of the Little Big Horn where he saw a number of Indians. However, when we reached the top of the bluffs the Indians had disappeared, but we were in plain view of the Indian camps which appeared to cover a space of about two miles wide and four miles long on the west side of the river. We were then charging at full speed. Reno and his troops were again seen at our left, moving at full speed down the valley. At the sight of the Indian camps the boys of the five troops began to cheer. Some of the horses became so excited, apparently sensing something extraordinary at that moment, that their riders could not hold them in rank. The last words I heard General Custer say were: “Hold your horses in, boys, there are plenty down there for us all.” Custer and his troops were about half a mile of the east side of the Indian camps when I was ordered by General Custer, through Captain Thomas Custer, to deliver the following messages:
‘Go to Captain McDougall. Tell him to bring the pack train straight across the creek. If any packs come loose, don’t stop to fix them; cut them and come on quick. Big Indian camp. If you see Captain Benteen, tell him to come quick — big Indian camp.’
LITTLE BIGHORN: A map included in James E. Dean Jr.’s “Western North Carolina Man Fought with Custer Against Sioux” illustrates the layout of the battle.
With this order I departed on my horse, Yankee Mike, which could single foot faster than most calvary horses could run. I sneaked by a number of Indians[,] and outrunning a bunch that discovered me I came to Captain Benteen and delivered the order. Benteen and his troops were watering their horses. Captain McDougall and his pack train were found about four miles from the Indian camps. The pack train went directly to the bluff where I left General Custer and his five troops.
When we reached there we found Major Reno with a remnant of three troops and Captain Benteen with three troops. Learned that Major Reno had marched to the edge of the Indian camps, dismounted and then remounted and retreated to the top of the bluffs where we found him. He had not lost a man until he began to retreat. Captain Benteen and his troops had reached the top of the bluffs just in time to prevent a massacre of all Reno’s men. When Benteen met Reno, the Indians turned again in the direction of where General Custer and his five troops of men were found dead. Being cut off from my command I remained on the bluffs with Reno’s men.
About 3 p.m. the Indians charged us again. A skirmish line formed around the pack train and horses which had been corralled. The Indians kept up a constant heavy fire until dark from all sides except the side next to the river. They made frequent charges and requiring our utmost strength to repulse them. Their charges were made hideous by their savage yells. At dark the firing ceased. On the morning of the 26th at daybreak they opened fire from all sides and during the entire day our utmost strength was required to repulse their repeated charges.
On the evening of the 26th, we could see them moving the camps in a southernly direction but the warriors kept up a constant firing until dark. On the morning of the 27th there were no Indians in sight. We had only about 182 men able for duty, 68 wounded and the remainder were dead. We then got water and made coffee. This is the first food and water we had taken since the morning of the 25th. On the 26th however, several canteens of water were obtained by several of the men which was given to the wounded, but this was little as compared to the need of the wounded. The soldiers who obtained the water obtained it under fire, two or three of them being wounded in their heroic efforts.
At about 9 a.m. we saw three columns coming up the Little Big Horn valley which upon making investigation proved to be Generals Gibbon’s and Terry’s commands. Terry reached us about 1 p.m. General Terry and staff came up to the bluffs and informed us of the massacre of General Custer and his five troops. General Terry was a kind old man and the men began to cheer him as he reached us. He broke down and cried like a child. In the fight of the battle in Little Big Horn, Montana, the 7th Cavalry lost about 265 killed and about 68 wounded. | http://mountainx.com/opinion/letters/tuesday-history-carrying-custers-final-command/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/4cab6e78a5126a034eb5dbac9ba6eb079c8d876450fd28a0d5f0e70496d716c6.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:50:46 | null | 2016-08-25T07:00:16 | Running and CrossFitting are two popular ways Asheville residents stay fit. Advocates on both sides maintain their workout is the best, but both forms of fitness confer benefits. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fliving%2Ffrom-crossfit-to-running-and-back-again-in-asheville%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/CrossfitPisgahCrew1.jpg | en | null | From CrossFit to running and back again in Asheville | null | null | mountainx.com | As modern technology and conveniences make us more sedentary, many Ashevilleans are searching for fitness methods that improve overall wellness by increasing strength, flexibility, endurance and ease of movements. There’s running, of course. But there’s also a high-intensity training method, CrossFit, which draws on the core movements of several sports. There are advocates of each fitness method who think their workout is the best. But some fitness buffs combine running with CrossFit and say they benefit from both.
Created by former gymnast Greg Glassman, CrossFit has “changed how I deal with fitness,” says Hayette Bouras.
She’s CrossFit Pisgah’s business manager and a convert to the typically high-intensity, group-oriented workouts the system calls for. “I dabbled in running, hula hooping,” says Bouras. “I played in high school sports but couldn’t follow through and didn’t have the self-discipline to stick with anything.”
CrossFit uses movements from such sports as gymnastics, weightlifting, running, rowing and more. Bouras says she made fun of the system before an enthusiastic friend told her how much he enjoyed it and why she’d love it too. “Then he told me how much it cost, and I said, ‘You must have lost your damn mind!’ … Now, I would take on two extra jobs to be able to come here.”
Bouras’ relationship with her body has changed a lot since she joined CrossFit Pisgah last year, she says. “I was a lot like most women, preoccupied with how I would like my body to be different, how I wasn’t enough the way I was,” says Bouras. “The biggest thing CrossFit has done for me, which has translated into all areas of my life, is to feed my self-esteem. At this point, I’m so comfortable with how I feel that I don’t pay attention to how I look.
“I thought I had vanity fitness goals, like a six-pack. Now, changes in my body are the result of the fun I’m having. I feel more confident and powerful and strong.” She says her weight has not changed at all, but her physique has changed completely.
How does CrossFit work?
“In CrossFit, the goal is the general pursuit of fitness,” says Dan Hartley, head coach and manager at CrossFit Pisgah. “The definition of fitness is … who is the fittest across the board. CrossFit is always goal-oriented, with a clear expectation of what you want to get out of the test of fitness that day,” he says.
“That’s why we rely on data. I want to know that I’m getting better when I’m sacrificing four hours out of my week [when] I could have watched four episodes of Game of Thrones.”
Hartley says he was “overweight, a plump kid in high school.” Then a Navy recruiter told him he had to lose the pounds before he could sign up. “I ate a lot of chicken and vegetables and ran,” says Hartley.
In four months in 2005, he went from 210 pounds to 148, passed the physical fitness test and joined the Navy. His interest in athletics sparked, Hartley became a professional lightweight strongman and trained in Olympic weightlifting at CrossFit gyms.
“Four or five years ago, I made fun of ‘CrossFitters,’ Now I look back and think, ‘What a jerk,’” says Hartley, noting the camaraderie in CrossFit training. “The family in the gym is the closest thing. They’re supportive and understanding, a great group of people, the best I’ve interacted with.”
Regular folks, both young and old, with little athletic background, have transformed themselves with CrossFit, say Bouras and Hartley. Steven Hendricks weighed over 300 pounds and is now 215, says Hartley, who calls him “a nasty good CrossFit athlete.” Bouras dubs Hendricks “a beast of muscle.”
GOOD SPORT: Jackson Zoeller cools down after a grueling Crossfit Pisgah workout. Photo by Jameson O’Hanlon
Another local CrossFitter, Joan Sprinkle, is a little older but “doesn’t let anything intimidate her,” says Hartley. “She puts in a lot of hard work, and she’s doing the same workouts that Steve is doing,” he says.
For one Friday workout, athletes performed 10 kettle bell swings on each side (70 pounds for men, 55 pounds for women), 10 triceps dips and a lap run, repeated without breaks for the last 12 minutes of the session.
“Everyone is getting closer to their goals,” Hartley says. “No matter where you are on that journey, everyone is ‘High-five, man, great job.’ That’s what keeps people coming back.”
A post-Katrina running success story
Alex Baker, local artist and owner of DNA Illustrations along with husband Dave, sticks to running to improve her overall fitness. She started jogging after Dave and her best friend Keely Carlisle trained together for the Asheville Citizen-Times‘ annual half-marathon.
“Keely’s husband and I took our collective kids to watch them run and to meet them at the finish,” Baker says. “As I was watching Dave and Keely run by, I decided that I wanted to be out there too.”
Baker says she had “put on weight” and had trouble sleeping after leaving New Orleans — and Hurricane Katrina — behind.
“Katrina was the gift that kept on giving, and I didn’t feel like myself,” she says. “On a whim, I signed up for the Couch to 5K program with the Asheville Track Club at Carrier Park. It was hard,” says Baker.
“And I will never forget the first time I tried to run for a minute, because I thought my heart would explode. I nearly dropped out of the program. I got shinsplints. It was miserable,” she recalls.
“But I saw people much larger and/or older than me who kept showing up, week after week. I didn’t want to let them down.” Baker ran her first 5K and started running with Keely and a neighbor. “With them, I trained for my first 10K and then my first half [marathon],” she says. “I dropped over 20 pounds, but the goals started becoming less about weight loss and more about running itself. And I was sleeping through the night.”
Baker insists she’s neither fast nor an athlete but says running has given her a level of fitness and serenity she’s never before experienced. “I have asthma, and speed is difficult. But I’ve figured out where my plateau is, breath-wise, and I if stay under that, I can run for hours,” she says.
“I’m in much better shape than I ever was in my 20s or 30s. I can’t call myself an athlete with a straight face, even though I’ve done eight marathons. For me, running is a mental vacation,” says Baker.
“I don’t run with music or audiobooks anymore. I let my mind wander and eventually I don’t think about anything at all, except to notice the cadence of my footsteps.”
Baker’s running odyssey has presented great challenges, though. “I’ve had highs and lows,” she says. Two race bibs — numbers pinned to competitors’ shirts during races — are taped to the wall behind her desk. “In my worst marathon experience, my training went to hell, and everything went wrong. I got the worst time and I spent half the race wanting to drop out,” she says, explaining one of the bibs. “And a second bib [represents] where I kept on top of my training, and everything went well. I got a PR [personal record] and ended the race feeling fantastic. The bibs remind me that I will get out of [training] what I put into it.”
Deadlifts, marathons and beer curls
Ginna Reid, owner of the Canine Social Club of Asheville, has strived over the years to strike a balance between running and CrossFit. She began running in 2003 and, after moving to Hawaii in 2008, joined a friend at a Maui football stadium for CrossFit workouts. “We were doing dynamic movements,” Reid says. “We pushed football blocking sleds, ran stadium stairs.”
RUN & FUN: Alex Baker, left, and Keely Carlisle sport costumes designed by Alex as they pass out shamrocks while running the Shamrock 10K. Photo courtesy of Alex Baker
Then, a startling thing happened to her running after adding the CrossFit workouts. “I took five minutes off my half-marathon time,” Reid says. “I was getting stronger.”
She moved back to Asheville in 2010, joined CrossFit Asheville and went from deadlifting 105 pounds to 200 pounds. Reid took up running again and met local women who were running 5 ½-minute miles. A 7-minute mile runner, she decided to train to get faster for her first marathon and qualify for the Boston Marathon.
Her coach said, “You can’t be good at both [CrossFit and running] at the same time,” Reid recalls. So she stopped CrossFit training a month before her first marathon in Duluth, Minn. Needing 3 hours and 40 minutes to qualify for Boston, Reid ran a 3:13.
She ran her first Boston Marathon on April 18 but says, “I had some weird inner ear thing and lost my hearing at mile 4. So I was training to do a 3:03 or 3:05 marathon, and I ended up doing a 3:18 [in Boston]. But I stopped and had a beer at mile 21.”
Wait … what? “They had beer the whole way,” Reid explains, laughing. “At the top of Heartbreak Hill, they were giving out free beer and I’m like, ‘Hell yeah!’” That 3:18 time requalified Reid to run Boston again next year.
Reid runs 7-12 miles every day. She plans to get back to the gym after healing from a torn labrum, an injury she sustained from lifting a CrossFit kettle bell overhead and reinjured when she fell while running down Haywood Road.
How do the CrossFitters and the runners feel about her doing both?
“I have a lot of friends who don’t see eye to eye,” Reid admits. “My CrossFit friends say, ‘You’re crazy! Why are you running 18 miles? That sounds awful!’ And I have running friends who say, ‘CrossFit’s a cult. It’s not serious exercise.’”
Reid says, “Everybody wants their side to be the best. But they look at me with respect and say, ‘Wow, that’s really cool that you can find benefit and balance with both.’ I think they want to be able to do that.”
This is why Reid splits her workout time. “I find that CrossFit has made me a better runner, and it sparked that initial click inside my head,” she says. “If I work on running and get stronger, I’m going to be better. And when I go back to CrossFit, it won’t be about deadlifting 200 pounds. It’ll be about maintaining a more balanced life.”
Reid believes that other people can do what she is doing. “If you do CrossFit and sign up for one of those brewery races, you’re going to find that it’s easier. If you’re consistently going to the gym, you’ll finish that 4-mile run, and you won’t be the last one. And you’ll be in good shape.”
MORE INFO
Crossfit Pisgah, 772-7115, crossfitpisgah.com, 151 W. Haywood St.
CrossFit Asheville, 335-0882, crossfitasheville.com, 438 Haywood Road
Asheville Track Club ashevilletrackclub.org
BEER RACE
Race to the Taps has two remaining events in its Marathon Series: the Pisgah Brewing 7-mile run on Saturday, Sept. 24, at 2 p.m. in Black Mountain; and the New Belgium Brewing 4- or 8-miler on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 11 a.m. in Asheville. One free craft beer awaits all finishers.
racetothetaps.com
Asheville Running Experience featured the ARX Half Marathon and the Asheville Brewing Superhero 5K on Saturday, Aug. 20; Chasing Trail, the Incredible Asheville Urban Odyssey, and the ARX Funktastic Fun Run on Sunday, Aug. 21. Sponsors included Asheville Brewing, Catawba Brewing, Hi-Wire Brewing, Twin Leaf Brewery, Wicked Weed Brewing and Burial Beer Co.
ashevillerunningexperience.com | http://mountainx.com/living/from-crossfit-to-running-and-back-again-in-asheville/ | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/d7e534bed37b5c7a103dbf15d37455f3d8123ccd771fab384d5ea0e60ed01577.json |
[
"That Guy Who Does That Thing."
] | 2016-08-28T12:47:00 | null | 2016-08-28T07:03:47 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fopinion%2Fneigh-sayers%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/MXcartoonBB289WEB-1100x477.jpg | en | null | Neigh sayers | null | null | mountainx.com | null | http://mountainx.com/opinion/neigh-sayers/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/bb11f33c831e10aed0806991198334a66ba17866117fcf5967759b8ab3ca38a6.json |
[
"We Want To Hear You",
"Send Your Letters",
"Commentary To Letters Mountainx.Com"
] | 2016-08-26T12:52:24 | null | 2016-08-25T21:00:26 | "'Progressive' Asheville doesn’t have a nudist resort? Seriously? Teddy Roosevelt (a skinny-dipping Republican) would today be arrested skinny-dipping in waters he helped preserve!" | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fopinion%2Fletter-writer-are-we-really-free-in-north-carolina%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/X_letters-1100x734.jpg | en | null | Letter writer: Are we really ‘free’ in North Carolina? | null | null | mountainx.com | Are we really “free” in North Carolina? Do we have the right priorities? You tell me:
The state Republicans, smacked by a Republican Supreme Court over the so-called “marriage amendment,” now claim where transgendered citizens pee is our most important issue. Now-former state Sen. Tom Apodaca pushed legislation that even strong Republican and Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski called “embarrassing.” (“Embarrassing” is a proper legacy for Apodaca.) We lost business and the NBA All-Star Game. They’re risking Donald Trump losing this state over this?!
Independents now outnumber Republicans in Henderson County (29 percent statewide), but have unfair obstacles to run for office. The Green Party couldn’t get nearly 90,000 signatures to be on the presidential ballot. (In South Carolina they’d “only” need 5,000 signatures.) Why can’t we just pay the entry fee and we’re on the ballot?
North Carolina has 10 million people and three state mental hospitals. In a “Christian” state. Think about that.
Overwhelmingly, people now support medical cannabis, which could help some cases of mental illness. It’s hard to find any state senator supporting it. That’s how much Big Tobacco, Big Alcohol, Big Pharma and the for-profit prison industry control us.
We have 301 miles of beaches in North Carolina and God knows how much public parkland. None that could be used for clothing-optional recreation, despite polls with overwhelming support. “Progressive” Asheville doesn’t have a nudist resort? Seriously? Teddy Roosevelt (a skinny-dipping Republican) would today be arrested skinny-dipping in waters he helped preserve!
I’m an open nudist-rights advocate. Modeled for figure drawing for six years. You taxpayers paid when I modeled for college art classes (thank you). You “Peeping Apodacas” out there can find my quite nude work on my Twitter @DennisTheNudist. You’d be amazed how many conservatives are nudists. Why can’t I hike naturally in designated spaces that I partially own, and must go to a nudist resort out of state and pay to be naked?
Your most important right is running for office. When will other nudists exercise that right? Why are we allowing “textiles” to determine our rights?
North Carolina has a 29.7 percent obesity rate, with 16.6 percent of high schoolers obese (stateofobesity.org). Ninety-nine percent chance they’re obese their whole lives. Yet my district replaced an obese state senator with a McDonald’s owner!
Because other nations are worse doesn’t mean we’re “free.” The most tolerable of injustice is still tyranny! But that’s what happens when we don’t rise up across the spectrum and say “enough!”
So the assault on our liberties will continue until morale improves.
— Dennis Justice
Fletcher | http://mountainx.com/opinion/letter-writer-are-we-really-free-in-north-carolina/ | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/2ecc1090c86fb3cec64a0351e281973c7f2fbbe1b7f9fb9afc1c30014a372fd8.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:50:13 | null | 2016-08-24T14:00:56 | Three days of festivities followed by nearly a week of locals-only tours will mark the grand opening of New Belgium Brewing's Asheville facility and the company's 25th anniversary. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Ffood%2Fbeer-scout-new-belgiums-birthday-bash%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/IMG_0093-1100x733.jpg | en | null | Beer Scout: New Belgium’s birthday bash | null | null | mountainx.com | New Belgium Brewing has some big plans in store as it finally welcomes guests into its Asheville production facility this weekend. The Fort Collins, Colo.-based brewery will celebrate both its 25th anniversary and the grand opening of its Asheville brewhouse with three days of festivities starting Thursday, Aug. 25, and culminating with nearly a week of locals-only tours.
On Thursday, Aug. 25, from 5-8 p.m., the brewery will host Brew Talks, an educational networking event for brewing professionals and the community at large, organized by national craft beer industry news organization Brewbound. Brew Talks is a traveling series of discussion panels focused on helping craft professionals connect and learn from each other in a collegial environment. New Belgium co-founder and former CEO Kim Jordan will be a panelist as will general manager Jay Richardson. Also participating are Leah Wong Ashburn of Highland Brewing Co. and Adam Charnack of Hi-Wire Brewing. Representatives from national-scale breweries will also be on hand for the networking event.
Schedule of events Brew Talks 5-8 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 25, New Belgium Asheville — An educational networking event organized by Brewbound. Tickets are by donation, with suggested offerings beginning at $10 per person. Proceeds will be donated to WNC Communities for the Brewers Grain Alliance and the Asheville Brewers Alliance. Space is limited, and preregistration is required. Register at avl.mx/2vf. CLIPS Beer and Film Tour 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 26, Roger McGuire Green, downtown Asheville — The festival showcases short films curated by New Belgium, including the premiere of a movie featuring some of the local artists who contributed to New Belgium’s Asheville brewery, many of whom have studios within a half mile of the facility. Screenings begin around 9 p.m. as the sun goes down. CLIPS is free to attend, with proceeds from beer sales going to local nonprofits. CeleBEERation 3-11 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27, New Belgium Asheville — Tickets are $50, which includes three beverage tokens redeemable for either beer or nonalcoholic drinks from local food trucks. Kids under 12 will be admitted for free. Tickets are available at newbelgium.com/birthday-bash. Locals-only tours Sign-ups are in person at the New Belgium Liquid Center beginning at 11 a.m. daily Monday, Aug. 29-Thursday, Sept. 1. Each tour accommodates up to 25 people and runs for 90 minutes, leaving the Liquid Center on the half hour 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 26, will see the return of New Belgium’s CLIPS Beer and Film Tour on Roger McGuire Green in downtown Asheville, starting at 7 p.m., with films rolling as the sun sets around 9 p.m. The evening festival showcases short films curated by New Belgium, including the premiere of a movie featuring some of the local artists who contributed to New Belgium’s Asheville brewery, many of which have studios within a half mile of the facility. CLIPS will also provide attendees with the opportunity to try some rare New Belgium beers. Among the offerings will be the brewery’s coveted sours and selections from its Hop Kitchen series as well as Film Noir, an imperial milk stout offered exclusively at CLIPS events.
The main event, however, is the 25th anniversary CeleBEERation, which will be held 3-11 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27, on the grounds of New Belgium’s production facility in West Asheville. The party, hosted by former “Saturday Night Live” Kim Kardashian impersonator Nasim Pedrad, will include comedy, carnival acts to honor the site’s history as Logan’s Showgrounds and a few surprises. Admission also includes live musical performances from New Zealand-based electronic music artists The Naked and Famous, 28-piece instrumental ensemble Mucca Pazza and Eastern North Carolina blues-rock band Dark Water Rising.
Industry professionals representing the breweries that contributed to New Belgium’s Fat Tire and Friends collaboration series, including noted national breweries such as Firestone Walker and Allagash, will attend and pour beer. Local food trucks will also be on-site.
But the real draw for most “Beer Scout” readers will be the beer, and New Belgium VIPer Ambassador Adam Mundy supplied Xpress with a truly impressive draft list. Confirmed beers include but will not be limited to:
Love Apple Felix, a single foeder sour aged in Leopold Bros. New York Apple Whiskey barrels.
La Folie (2016).
Transatlantique Kriek (2016).
Fruit Fly, a new passion fruit sour hopped with Citra.
Tart Lychee (2016).
Belgo Belgian IPA, currently pouring exclusively at the New Belgium Liquid Centers in Fort Collins and Asheville.
Nitro Oscar Worthy Coffee, a La Folie-based sour aged on whole espresso coffee beans from Fort Collins coffee roaster Bean Cycle for 48 hours, then nitrogenated.
Flowering Citrus Ale, Brouwerij De Koninck’s collaboration with New Belgium, brewed in commemoration of the anniversary.
Bretta IPA, the newest Hop Kitchen offering.
Pumpkick, New Belgium’s fall seasonal.
Mundy was also able to confirm that the Fat Tire and Friends tent will be pouring all five of the collaborative interpretations of New Belgium’s flagship Fat Tire Ale, including Avery Brewing’s Fat Wild Ale, Hopworks Urban Brewery’s Fat Sour Apple Ale, Firestone Walker’s Fat Hoppy Ale, Rhinegeist Brewery’s Fat Pale Ale and New Belgium’s original Fat Tire. New Belgium’s year-round offerings will also be available. “There might be a couple more special offerings than listed; I am unable to confirm those at this second. I hope there are some surprises, too,” says Mundy.
Public access to New Belgium’s state-of-the-art Asheville production facility has been extremely limited thus far, but that is about to change. From Monday, Aug. 29, through Thursday, Sept. 1, New Belgium will offer locals the chance to beat the tourists with exclusive walking tours of the brewhouse and grounds. “We’re excited to finally share this with the community,” says New Belgium communications specialist Susanne Hackett. “We want them to see themselves in this space, to feel like it’s their living room.”
The tours will be first-come, first-served, with registration taking place at the Liquid Center taproom starting at 11 a.m. each day. Online registration for subsequent tours open to the general public is available now and can be reserved up to two months in advance. Tours will be guided by New Belgium’s Liquid Center staff, nearly all of whom were local hires.
New Belgium’s contributions to the local economy extend beyond creating jobs for brewery employees and local artists. The company has been employee-owned since 2012 and certified as a Benefit Corporation since 2013. B Corp status signifies that the business adheres to stringent standards of social and environmental accountability, sustainability and transparency. The brewery’s Employee Stock Ownership Program grants employees an ownership stake in the company after one year of employment, meaning that, over time, New Belgium will become a company increasingly owned by Asheville natives and residents.
About 25 percent of New Belgium’s employees have been inducted into the ESOP program, with 10 new owners from the Asheville facility joining their ranks at a recent event in Fort Collins. Among this year’s inductees was site controller Justin Anders, a Cullowhee native who earned his accounting degree and MBA from Western Carolina University. “New Belgium stands for a lot of the things that I stand for. I’ve worked for a lot of great companies in Western North Carolina, but this is the one that drew me in,” Anders says, explaining that the company’s core values were a natural fit with the culture of Asheville.
Four years after the project was announced, New Belgium’s Asheville brewhouse is already pumping out Fat Tire amber ale, Ranger IPA and Citradelic Tangerine IPA, with Rampant Imperial IPA soon to be produced here. This weekend’s festivities mark the end of a lengthy build-out and the beginning of a promising new contribution to the Asheville economy and beer community that should benefit Western North Carolina for decades to come. So take this three-day party as an opportunity to enjoy the first beer of many with our new neighbors. | http://mountainx.com/food/beer-scout-new-belgiums-birthday-bash/ | en | 2016-08-24T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/3ee8e00ae79934d42cf0ff43ea87f04714265309d4796fe51a065038b3bd37df.json |
[
"Thomas Calder Received His Mfa In Fiction The University Of Houston'S Creative Writing Program. He Has Worked With Several Publications",
"Including Gulf Coast",
"The Collagist. For His Weekly",
"Tuesdayhistory Tidbits On Asheville",
"Follow Him On Instagram"
] | 2016-08-28T08:47:49 | null | 2016-08-08T00:00:00 | Apparently, he lived on gin and beer – that is what he drank all the time I was there. I have no idea how much gin he averaged a day, but it was plenty. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Farts%2Fliterature%2Ftuesday-history-fitzgeralds-rough-stay-at-the-grove-park-inn%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/800px-Francis_Scott_Fitzgerald_1937_June_4_1_photo_by_Carl_van_Vechten.jpg | en | null | Tuesday History: Fitzgerald in despair at the Grove Park Inn | null | null | mountainx.com | In 1936, while staying at the Grove Park Inn, a series of unfortunate events unfolded for writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. He arrived in Asheville to help transfer his wife, Zelda, to Highland Hospital where she sought psychiatric treatment. Later that summer, Fitzgerald dislocated his shoulder while diving into Beaver Lake (back when an actual diving board stood in the middle of the lake). By September, New York Post writer Michel Mok visited with Fitzgerald and wrote an article on him titled: “The Other Side of Paradise, Scott Fitzgerald, 40, Engulfed in Despair.” After the article appeared, Fitzgerald attempted suicide.
Years later, Professor Arthur Mizener would publish, The Far Side of Paradise – the first biography on F. Scott Fitzgerald. The book would be credited for reviving interest in Fitzgerald’s fiction. During his research, Mizener contacted Asheville resident, Martha Marie Shank, who had been hired as Fitzgerald’s business manager during his 1936 stay.
Shank’s letter is written 13 years after the events she’s describing, when she is 63 years old, retired and living in her Jefferson Apartment on Merrimon Avenue. Below are excerpts from Shank’s correspondence, recounting her time with the man responsible for such books as This Side of Paradise (1920), The Great Gatsby (1925) and Tender is the Night (1934).
Thanks, as always, to Pack Memorial Library’s Special Collections, North Carolina Room for its assistance.
On Oct. 26, 1949 Martha Marie Shank wrote:
…In October, 1936, I was called to Grove Park Inn to do some stenographic work for “a Mr. Fitzgerald,” but did not know until I got there that it was Scott Fitzgerald. I had read some of his books but knew nothing about him personally, and was surprised to find such a young man. At that time he had pretty well recovered from his shoulder injury which he told me he had received in a swimming pool accident. A nurse was with him, about whom I shall say more later. In the very beginning I did not know he was drinking. Had I known, and the extent, I should probably have quit right then. I soon learned that he was an alcoholic, but by that time I was sufficiently interested to stay on. Here I will say that at no time was he offensively or obnoxiously drunk, in the ordinary sense of the word, though I presume there was no time during his stay here that he was not under the influence of liquor. At first he tried in numerous ways to shock me, but when I didn’t “shock easy” he gave that up. For instance, he immediately began calling me by my first name, apparently to see how I would take it. I took it by calling him Scott, and from then on it was “Martha Marie” and “Scott.”
You say you know he came here because of an attack of tuberculosis and had been sent to Dr. Ringer (not Ringler) by Dr. Baker. This may be true. He told me he came to Asheville in order to put Zelda in Highland Hospital. I know he had tuberculosis and was treated by Dr. Ringer, but this treatment had ceased when I first knew him. …
You say that he had been drinking very heavily for some years. In all his conversations with me on this subject he gave me to understand that he had not, for any great length of time, been a drinking man; that he had taken his writing very seriously and worked hard and that his heavy drinking was relatively recent. I have no period of time in mind; but according to him, his wife’s mental illness and his own crack-up, or loss of ability to write were the causes of his drinking. At that time, I thought the drinking was an effect, but now I am not sure. I am sure, though, that he felt his writing ability had left, or was leaving him for good.
He brooded on this, and tried so desperately hard to write, and the result was largely trash, as he well knew. He wrote and re-wrote and re-re-wrote some stories, none of which was much good. … There were periods when he was trying to write and considerable lengths of time when he made no attempt. When he did try, it was more or less in a frenzy. There was much more time, I should say, when he was making no effort than when he was. He spoke of the reaction to his published articles on “cracking up,” and was a little amused by it. My fellow townsman, Tom Wolfe, was one who wrote and berated him and there were others.
The stenographic work I went to the Inn to do soon amounted to little or nothing – he wrote only the most necessary business letters and a very few personal ones, the latter being chiefly to Scotty [Fitzgerald’s daughter]. But he liked to have us there and as I had a good assistant in my office I did stay with him a good deal. Practically all the time I was there he had a nurse whom I will identify as Dorothy. She was very good for him, I thought. She was young (possibly 30) and attractive, but very level-headed. She was intelligent and compassionable, and I must say the three of us had some very good times! Sometimes he was gay and talkative and utterly charming. At others he was tragically depressed. Meals were sent up to his rooms and Dorothy and I did our level best to get him to eat, but I never saw him take more than a few bites. Apparently, he lived on gin and beer – that is what he drank all the time I was there. I have no idea how much gin he averaged a day, but it was plenty.
Next week we will continue Shank’s letter on Fitzgerald. | http://mountainx.com/arts/literature/tuesday-history-fitzgeralds-rough-stay-at-the-grove-park-inn/ | en | 2016-08-08T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/11ca59cc9e7351a188ecf676ea9e8af1f187562077fa14577f5f3349960bca01.json |
[
"We Want To Hear You",
"Send Your Letters",
"Commentary To Letters Mountainx.Com"
] | 2016-08-27T18:46:51 | null | 2016-08-27T14:00:34 | "Respect [should be given] for an inclusive, uniquely American culture for everyone's entertainment. Sounds like Asheville to me." | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fopinion%2Fletter-writer-shindig-rules-needs-revamp%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/X_letters-1100x734.jpg | en | null | Letter writer: Shindig rules needs revamp | null | null | mountainx.com | I found the excuses for disallowing adult dancing in the area in front of the stage [at Shindig on the Green] to be very lame and, as an acquaintance aptly described it, “snarky” [“Safety is First Concern at Shindig,” July 20, Xpress]. That those responsible for decisions regarding “safety” are intimidated by the prospects of requiring parents to appropriately monitor their children is extremely troubling in that those in attendance have no real security! Especially in a time in U.S. history, not since before the Revolution, when we are confronted by very serious terrorism, undetectable by government authority, until after the fact!
The musicians, the source of the Shindig activities, receive no financial compensation, while the donations support the organization and the only folks making money are the vendors.
Tables at the front of the stage for the sale of CDs available from the musicians, announcing their names after each set, would solve the stair-safety problem and also provide some fair compensation and respect to them. This is a culture-sharing opportunity, as listening to the music traveling home will keep visitors connected to their experience here. Sharing with their friends will encourage more visitors from their home regions to visit Western North Carolina. This would also eliminate obstacles to the audience enjoying the music with active-dancing participation.
The vendors are the same vendors every year. Selling tasty but high-cholesterol, fatty foods, while not providing nonmeat and lactose-free food choices, creates discrimination against food needs for other consumers and those lactose-intolerant. In these tough economic times, it would seem more appropriate to select vendors by lottery, giving all the wonderful food offerings available in Asheville an opportunity to benefit from sales to the crowd, serving on a rotating system, not a monopoly.
Forcing the audience to comply with unrealistic concert requirements is out of step with the true heart of the Appalachian community. This region was settled by fiercely independent, family-oriented people escaping Northern Puritanism, with its regulations and restrictions. Their music reflects that freedom through spontaneous and fun dancing.
Clogging is not just an art form, it a physically active expression that everyone deserves the freedom to explore, not just performers. It is more lively, and the steps easily copied, not as isolating as other more studied, regimented dancing styles. Flatfooting, solo dancing, is the earliest form of truly American dance and should also be observed and enjoyed by all! And think of the pleasure for couples waltzing in the warm summer night, to the romantic Appalachian violin styles of our region’s most highly acclaimed Bobby Hicks and Roger Howell!
The “free” concert required money from only those who used the municipal parking garage ($5/car event fee), but everyone else enjoyed it for free? Can we call that discriminating extortion?
Music, created by musicians, [should] … be shared — not for exploitation to benefit a few, but to enrich all. Food vendors’ [products should] … be enjoyed by all, not to benefit a few. Respect [should be given] for an inclusive, uniquely American culture for everyone’s entertainment. Sounds like Asheville to me.
— Cheryl Shepley
Marshall | http://mountainx.com/opinion/letter-writer-shindig-rules-needs-revamp/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/287a8e57670662eb98649eec34f40adf9123348a193078a3afb34f6230703b4f.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:55:17 | null | 2016-08-23T14:08:19 | The Story: A Jewish prince in Roman-occupied Jerusalem seeks revenge after he is betrayed by his adoptive brother, but his heart is softened by encounters with Jesus Christ. The Lowdown: Failing to function on both cinematic and evangelistic levels, Ben Hur is a disappointing and redundant take on a story that's been told often — and better. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Fmovies%2Freviews%2Fben-hur%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/maxresdefault-4-1100x619.jpg | en | null | Ben Hur | null | null | mountainx.com | The Story: A Jewish prince in Roman-occupied Jerusalem seeks revenge after he is betrayed by his adoptive brother, but his heart is softened by encounters with Jesus Christ. The Lowdown: Failing to function on both cinematic and evangelistic levels, Ben Hur is a disappointing and redundant take on a story that's been told often — and better.
Have you ever asked yourself what a Michael Bay remake of Ben Hur might look like? Probably not, but Timur Bekmambetov has now provided the world with a fair approximation of just such a monstrosity. I spent most of Ben Hur thinking about the film-within-a-film from last year’s Hail, Caesar!, wondering if the Coen Brothers had deliberately skewered this remake in advance by lifting the subtitle from Hur’s source material for their mise-en-abîme. If anything, I would’ve rather watched George Clooney ham his way through that fictional epic than sit through this Ben Hur. But, like Jack Huston chained to the bottom of a slave galley, sit I must. And sit I did. The results could hardly have been less pleasant if I had, in fact, been shackled to a bunch of sweaty dudes in a boat while getting hot tar poured on me.
Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ, the 1880 novel by Lew Wallace, has been adapted for the stage and screen numerous times. Obviously I haven’t seen every version of the story, but I feel confident in saying this adaptation is likely to rank among the worst made thus far. At least it’s shorter than the 1959 Charlton Heston version, but it’s also significantly more boring. (While the Heston version is a lengthy proposition at 212 minutes, it somehow still manages to feel more concise than this latest iteration does at 124.) The shortened running time, presumably intended to placate 21st century attention spans, leads to a choppy narrative that strikes an odd balance between feeling both overwrought and haphazardly slapped together. It’s as though the filmmakers, torn between serving story or spectacle, attempt to favor both while failing to deliver either.
If the ’59 Hur, directed by William Wyler, doesn’t quite suit the tastes of modern audiences, it’s largely because the film is firmly a product of its times. So is this version, to an egregious fault. The film reads as though the producorial edict was to abbreviate in every way possible. Producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett have stated they decided to make this film because their teenage children were unaware of Wyler’s version — but they have done their kids, and audiences of all ages, a huge disservice. (My computer auto-corrected “Downey” to “Downer,” and I considered leaving it that way, as I usually know I’m in for a long night when I see this pair’s name in the credits.)
Were its ministerial mismanagement the film’s only sin, it might have been forgivable. However, it also disappoints in almost every other regard. Bekmambetov, whose early work with Night Watch (2004) and Day Watch (2006) I enjoyed, has definitively jumped the shark with his vision of Ben Hur. (If you had asked me previously, I would’ve said he had already done so in 2012 with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, so this is indeed a bold declaration.) The script, penned by Keith R. Clarke and John Ridley, is so fixated on the famous chariot race that it forgets to build much of a story world beyond it, and that race is one of the most disappointing computer-generated catastrophes I’ve seen in some time.
The cast is similarly weak, with Toby Kebbell struggling to impart any depth to Hur’s adoptive brother and eventual adversary, Messala (a slight and completely unnecessary change to this relationship from other versions), and Jack Huston growling his way through a one-dimensional portrayal of Judah Ben Hur. Huston lacks the screen presence and charisma to carry off the role, so most of his performance comes across as a limited collection of scowls and grimaces with no emotional impact. Even Morgan Freeman can’t save the day in a competent, if uninspired, turn as the Nubian Sheikh who grants Hur his chance at revenge and redemption.
Ultimately, even if the cast had been exemplary, this film still would’ve failed abysmally — shoddy direction, a godawful script and misguided production saw to that — and Ben Hur’s crucifixion by critics and audiences has been well-deserved. As the summer blockbuster season draws to a close, we should all give thanks to our respective deities that we won’t have to deal with many big-budget abominations along the lines of Ben Hur for at least a few months. Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and disturbing images
Now Playing at Carmike 10, Carolina Cinemark, Regal Biltmore Grande, UA Beaucatcher, Epic of Hendersonville | http://mountainx.com/movies/reviews/ben-hur/ | en | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/2cb3d2b3b9da460baa6700cbd89c772e49b0e9f873582fcc35f9459f8bac0a94.json |
[
"Kat Studied Entrepreneurship",
"Music Business At The University Of Miami",
"Earned Her Mba At Appalachian State University."
] | 2016-08-26T12:49:39 | null | 2016-08-24T11:33:42 | Poetry-themed drinks and live music continue after the untamed variety show, which runs Sunday-Monday, Aug. 28-29. | http%3A%2F%2Fmountainx.com%2Farts%2Fsmart-bets-poetry-cabaret-iv%2F.json | http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/BET-Poetry-Cabaret-credit-Laila-Alamiri-1100x733.jpg | en | null | Smart bets: Poetry Cabaret IV | null | null | mountainx.com | Most literary events don’t warn of partial nudity, but Poetry Cabaret is quirky like that. The two-night stand hinges around readings by headlining author Keith Flynn (founder and managing editor of Asheville Poetry Review) and additional poets, including Justin Blackburn, Indy Srinath, Justin William Evans, Pasckie Pascua, Emilio Maldonado and Kevin Barger. But some of the other acts don’t require a word: burlesque and boy-lesque performances, fire-eating, an analog light show, live cabaret music and magic tricks, for instance. Performers will broach current issues as well as “erotica, sex and pot roast sandwiches,” according to a media release that also promises a stand-up comedy routine by Asheville Disclaimer’s Tom Scheve. Poetry-themed drinks and live music continue after the show, which runs Sunday-Monday, Aug. 28-29, at 8 p.m., with an early cocktail hour at 7 p.m. $5-$20 sliding scale donation. facebook.com/poetrycabaret. Photo by Laila Alamiri | http://mountainx.com/arts/smart-bets-poetry-cabaret-iv/ | en | 2016-08-24T00:00:00 | mountainx.com/6572ad537d03a63f09e7d4267d09423f18ad68eecf7db32a91a2bbca2178d46a.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:05:35 | null | null | Form and Fiction runs from Aug. 30 through Sept. 18 at the Pearl Ellis Gallery in Comox. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fentertainment%2F391191821.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/4353comox09EastCoastAutumn-by-PieterMolanaar.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Form and Fiction by husband and wife | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | Form and Fiction, a show by husband and wife team Pieter Molenaar and Marlet Ashley, runs from Aug. 30 through Sept. 18 at the Pearl Ellis Gallery in Comox.
Although married, their styles could not be more different. Ashley experiments in abstract and collage using acrylics and mixed media while Molenaar is a classically trained artist whose skies, seas, cities, and landscapes echo realism with a touch of impressionism.
Molenaar is an internationally known Canadian West Coast artist transplanted from The Netherlands. He admires the Old Dutch Masters, an admiration revealed in his style— his colours are rich and his tones evocative.
Molenaar’s paintings reflect a brooding, pensive, and compelling atmosphere that is most obvious in his scenes of pending storms in rural settings, roiling waves of seascapes, and slanting light down city streets.
He uses oil exclusively since it allows him such a broad scope of expression. Molenaar uses dramatic colours, contours, and brushwork to enhance scenes from the West Coast, the Prairies, and The Netherlands.
He creates a unique and intelligible impression of his subjects, which is much appreciated by those who admire and collect his work. Molenaar’s paintings provide the “form” part of this show.
Ashley was born in Windsor, Ont. where her interest in art began when she landed a job as a weekly arts and crafts columnist for the Windsor Star.
After writing a story on the Essex County Potters’ Guild, her interest in pottery grew, and she became a potter herself, winning awards and selling in local shops and at art shows.
Her sales from pottery paid for her tuition to university where she studied and later taught psychology and then did graduate work in English literature and creative writing at the University of Windsor.
There, she taught as a sessional English and creative writing instructor. After moving to Vancouver in 1995, Ashley taught at various colleges in the Lower Mainland, finally securing a tenured position as an English instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
Ashley is the author of the textbook Literature and the Writing Process, a series of children’s books—five illustrated stories collectively titled Revelry on the Estuary—and a single book, Must Be Christmas.
She feels fortunate to enjoy a life filled with literature and art. With her whimsical collages of birds and near-abstract mixed-media landscapes, Ashley’s paintings deliver the “fiction” portion of this show.
The reception for this show will be held Saturday, Sept. 3 from 1-4 p.m. to which all members of the public, friends and family are welcome.
More information at 250-339-2822 or www.pearlellisgallery.com | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/entertainment/391191821.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/9f4923f8af9c2896d4926f2be4d23676a0c291c97e677d9027a9f7dfe7aa10cd.json |
[
"Tom Fletcher"
] | 2016-08-26T13:07:47 | null | null | Collector plates will be available next year for modified as well as stock cars made between 1958 and 1974 | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Flifestyles%2F389536851.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/25111BCLN2007Chevrolet_Camaro1969-wikim7web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Collector program expanding to 'muscle cars' | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | Modified versions of the 1969 Camaro SS and other popular vehicles will soon be eligible for B.C. collector plates, allowing occasional use for parades and car shows.
The B.C. government is expanding its collector vehicle licence system to include eligible modified cars made between 1958 and 1974, to capture the popular "muscle car" era of the 1960s.
The ICBC collector plate program gives car enthusiasts a lower-cost licence plate that allows occasional use for parades and classic car shows. ICBC plans to take applications starting in 2017 for eligible modified vehicles up to 1974, and replica cars resembling North American production cars from 1942 and earlier.
With strict rules that the cars must be in "collectible condition," changes will take in modified popular cars from the Dodge Duster to the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang, as well as replicas of the popular Ford "deuce coupe" from the 1930s.
Premier Christy Clark announced a break for older cars this spring, allowing vehicles from 1940 or earlier and their replicas to run without fenders or mud flaps when the highway is dry and paved.
Transportation Minister Todd Stone said the collector car industry is significant for B.C., with registered collector vehicles having doubled to 26,000 in the past 10 years.
"We want to see this specialty vehicle program remain viable, preserve vehicle history and evolve with the times," Stone said. "That's why we are opening up the opportunity to owners of specialty cars within the 'muscle car' era."
Currently, the standard collector plate is available to cars 25 years or older, as well as discontinued or limited production vehicles 15 years or older. It requires a stock engine with no performance enhancements, no rust, dents or "significant wear and tear" of the interior.
Modified vehicles from 1958 or older are currently eligible for collector plates, if they retain the shell of the original body but have parts replaced or modified in the chassis, engine, suspension, steering or brakes.
Owners have to apply for a collector or modified collector plate, with purchase and parts bills, photos and inspection reports.
Applications for collector and modified collector programs are available on ICBC's website, www.icbc.com, and can be dropped off at Autoplan brokers. | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/lifestyles/389536851.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/09ee55d6cc00e78254cf43ac7696771abaf80051d19714b2730416690b68bdcc.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:40 | null | null | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2F390466801.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | BC Liberals double dipping into our pockets with no accountability | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | Dear editor,
As a condition of funding, the Christy Clark Liberals coerced VIHA into adopting a Public Private Partnership (P3) model to design, build and operate the two new North Island hospitals.
The result is that Tandem Health has guaranteed payments for 30 years, which includes maintaining the parking facilities. Another contractor will be paid a set fee to empty the meters and enforce the paid parking. If there is anything left above these established payments, the parking revenue will go to the hospital.
We’re already paying for these hospitals through our provincial and municipal taxes (40 per cent), yet neither the public nor municipal councils had any input regarding the imposed P3 model. Therefore, if the parking revenue is less than these pre-determined contracts, our tax dollars will have to fund the difference, which will have to come from hospital administration/patient care dollars.
The suggestion that we increase municipal taxes or impose a levy to subsidize parking is folly – we’ve already paid and will continue to pay for parking for 30 years. This is a classic case of the sleight of hand provincial Liberals double dipping into our pockets with no accountability. We need to put the blame where it rightly belongs.
Fred Muzin
Courtenay | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/opinion/letters/390466801.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/6207074ed57c95ad25f7ad767f5007a0e8caf6720a1486da0a7e9d8c4006ec74.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:08:16 | null | null | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Flifestyles%2F375570241.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/94234comox09gravelstuff.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Gravel patio without the loose gravel | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | Gravel stabilizing systems can give any patio a European look.
Have you always loved the charming look of a pea gravel patio or pathway?
Do you like the European look and feel of gravel crunching underfoot, bistro sets laid out with wine, and a backdrop of colourful table cloths and cushions?
Well, now you can have this very French setting without the major drawbacks associated with loose gravel surfaces.
Just use a gravel stabilizing system.
These lightweight plastic gravel systems allow any homeowner to install a small gravel patio in less than a day!
These systems are easy to install, can withstand heavy weights and ensure the gravel stays in place. Just as with any hard surface, table and chair legs or even high heeled shoes do not sink in this very regional setting.
The main benefits?
It is 100 per cent porous, easy for anyone to install, uses local gravel and provides a quick, attractive and safe surface for anyone to use (wheelchairs, kids and basketballs or W.H.Y).
Treat your backyard to a spruce up this year with a colourful and cost effective gravel patio. | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/lifestyles/375570241.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/f10ed498402c8143680b404fdd383faf2c195c0cea419aa95633353c359bba31.json |
[
"Tom Fletcher"
] | 2016-08-26T13:06:47 | null | null | Small communities have more than 400 doctor vacancies, with 'telehealth' and visiting specialists filling gaps | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Flifestyles%2F385489111.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/32759BCLN2007Kelly-Doug15-2.4.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Video links grow as rural health care shrinks | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | Doug Kelly, chair of the B.C. First Nations Health Council
With patients in urban areas having difficulty finding a family doctor, the situation in rural B.C. is going from bad to worse, MLAs on the province's health committee were told Monday.
Ed Staples, a member of the B.C. Health Coalition, described his efforts to improve the situation in Princeton, a community of about 5,000 people that four years ago was down to one doctor providing on-call service.
Princeton now has four full-time doctors and two nurse practitioners, but there are still people who can't find a doctor in the region, including Penticton an hour and a half away. A recent search of the College of Physicians and Surgeons website turned up the nearest doctor accepting patients in Courtney on Vancouver Island, Staples said.
Health Match BC, the province's web portal for recruiting doctors, nurses and other health professionals, currently has more than 400 general practitioner vacancies, with 37 communities seeking 85 doctors. The result is "bidding wars" between communities to offer incentives to relocating doctors, and foreign doctors using a rural community as an entry point before relocating to the Lower Mainland, he said.
The B.C. government has announced its latest videoconferencing service for health care, linking psychiatrists with young people in Cranbrook. The service is available twice a month at the local Children and Family Development office, supplementing visits by specialists in communities such as Cranbrook and Princeton. Health Minister Terry Lake says video conferencing and electronic health records are a key part of the solution for reaching patients across B.C.
Doug Kelly, chair of the B.C. First Nations Health Council, told the committee of an Abbotsford doctor who travels to Carrier Sekani territory around Prince George for part of his practice, in a pilot project with Northern Health.
Kelly said video links and nurse practitioners are part of the solution to delivering rural and remote care, but the main obstacle is the business model for doctors that has them cycling through as many as 20 patients an hour to bill enough to cover their office overhead.
Committee members were also reminded that graduating doctors are increasingly reluctant to take on the demands of family practice, especially in smaller communities where they may find themselves on call around the clock. | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/lifestyles/385489111.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/c2d35a97ac5728559363cb21245bfa313e425e9007b91cd4630d4bf373a46a9e.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:54:16 | null | null | $2,543 donation Emterra Environmental to the Comox Valley Healthcare Foundation | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fcommunity%2F389101761.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/72742comox09EMTERRA.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | CVHF benefits from recycling program | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | On hand to celebrate the funding of a new TheraGlide chair for The Views, St. Joseph’s residential care facility, are (from left) Emterra North Island operations manager, Dave Ross; Cumberland Mayor Leslie Baird; Comox Mayor Paul Ives; Hospital Foundation executive director, Lynn Dashkewytch; manager of The View Residential Care, Michael Aitken; and Emterra VP of operations for B.C., Ed Walsh.
Thanks to Emterra Environmental, when you recycle in the Comox Valley, you also help improve local healthcare. Emterra is the company that provides recycling, yard waste and garbage collection for residents in the area.
Through its Community Care program, Make Your Contribution at the Curb, (MYCATC), Emterra donates $1 to the Comox Valley Healthcare Foundation (formerly St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation) for every tonne residents recycle each year. The money is used to purchase new medical and hospital equipment.
In 2015, residents in the Comox Valley recycled 2,543 tonnes, which has resulted in a donation this week of $2,543 from Emterra Environmental to the Healthcare Foundation. Since 2009, Emterra has donated more than $12,500 towards new equipment for St. Joseph’s Hospital.
“The contribution made over the years by Comox Valley residents to our recycling initiatives has been tremendous and the growth has been fantastic,” said Ed Walsh, Emterra Environmental’s vice-president of operations for B.C.
“The recycling rates here are as strong as Victoria, which has had a program for over 20 years,” he said. “It’s such an easy way to increase funding to the foundation; the more you recycle, the more Emterra donates.”
Emterra approached Courtenay and Comox councils nearly 10 years ago to start a curbside recycling program in the Comox Valley, which evolved into the blue box program seen today. Because the community was basically starting its recycling program from scratch, Walsh saw an opportunity to give back to the Comox Valley through recycling.
His reasons were personal.
“I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma 15 years ago and went through eight months of chemo,” he said. “I wanted this fundraising initiative to be hospital-related because I was really well looked after in Victoria, and I appreciated that.
“Because of that, local hospitals are near and dear to my heart, so I said, ‘Let’s see what we can do in this community’.”
This year, the $2,543 donated by Emterra is going towards the purchase of two TheraGlide chairs for The Views, St. Joseph’s residential care facility. These chairs will increase the comfort and quality of life for frail and elderly residents living in The Views.
When the new Comox Valley Hospital opens, the chairs will stay at the St. Joseph’s site, which will continue operating residential and hospice care.
“Many residents have mobility issues and spend their day in a chair or their bed,” said Lynn Dashkewytch, executive director of Comox Valley Healthcare Foundation.
“Having specialty beds and chairs that provide features to enhance comfort and safety is so important. We are so thankful for Emterra’s generous donation again this year, and we are grateful that Emterra shares our vision to help support and enhance quality of life for the residents at St. Joseph’s.”
The Comox Valley is currently the only community in B.C. that participates in MYCATC and gives back through its recycling.
Walsh says that feedback from residents has been very positive, and when people find out how far their recycling goes in the Valley, they want to do more.
“I encourage residents to put their recycling more,” Walsh said. “Not only is it good for the environment by saving space at the landfill and reducing greenhouse gases, it also allows us to purchase equipment at St. Joseph’s hospital, so it’s a multiple win situation.
“One tonne of recycling does so much more than you think.” | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/community/389101761.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/7d6aab35f8f5f64b999666ffe8f6f16f7170cbddef9fee9bf2e9df096c9c4e2e.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:11:54 | null | null | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fopinion%2F391188851.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | GUEST COLUMN: Time to focus on search and rescue | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | Colin Kenny
Guest Column
Since the government took office last December, the Minister of National Defence has spent much of his time musing about Canada’s military role in Iraq, the CF-18 replacements, and a future role in peacekeeping operations.
As important as these issue are, the minister would be wise to spend some time on another file that is in need of his attention: search and rescue (SAR). The truth of the matter is that search and rescue is not something that gets very much attention until something goes awry.
I often recount this story when discussing search and rescue, but it’s one that most Canadians will likely still remember. In October, 2011, Search and Rescue Technician (SAR Tech) Sgt. Janick Gilbert and his crew were called to fly to Igloolik, Nunavut to rescue a young man and his father who were stranded on the ice.
Thirty minutes before the sun set and total darkness fell, the SAR Techs parachuted down into waves that were over 10 feet high. The temperature was -8C and winds were gusting up to 60 kilometres an hour.
Team leader Sgt. Gilbert landed the farthest from the life raft and was found five hours later, floating lifeless in the water. Sgt. Gilbert was posthumously awarded the Star of Courage for his actions.
This is just one example of the more than 10,000 search-and-rescue incidents that occur each year – around 1,200 are considered life-and-death situations. The sheer number of annual rescues is compounded by the vast expanse of coverage SAR Techs are called on to provide. Canadian search and rescue operations are divided into three areas totalling around 18 million square kilometres.
To do their jobs, SAR Techs rely on a number of specialized fixed and rotary wing aircraft including the CH-149 Cormorant helicopter.
While the Cormorants are highly effective SAR aircraft, there simply are just not enough to go around in a country the size of Canada. The fleet of 14 Cormorants are spread between locations on the East and West Coasts leaving the largest region, Trenton, to rely on the inferior CH-146 Griffon helicopter for rescue operations.
The problem is that the Griffon is a converted civilian helicopter that was never designed to be used for search and rescue. It’s considerably slower than the Cormorant, has less lift capacity and has less than half the aeronautical range.
To make matters worse, the Cormorants are now almost 20 years old, meaning they are approaching their required mid-life refit. When the refit begins, the fleet will be even further thinned with the Griffons likely being forced to assume an even larger role in SAR operations.
If anyone took a few minutes to focus on this issue they would find that there is a cost-effective answer to this problem.
Canada has nine VH-71 helicopters (which are similar to the Cormorants) sitting idle that we’ve already paid for. These helicopters were part of a fleet originally bought by the U.S. marines to transport the president. When the Americans cancelled the program in 2012, the RCAF snapped them up along with 800,000 spare parts for pennies on the dollar.
The Minister of Defence should have already acted to secure the funds necessary to put these VH-71s into service. Despite this oversight, it’s not too late. The presidential choppers would only require new avionics suites and side doors to make them SAR ready.
By doing so we would be able to refit the Cormorants without diminishing search-and-rescue capabilities while the refit is under way. And after the refit the new VH-71s would replace the Griffons and bring commonality to operations and provide better coverage in the largest SAR region in the country.
Now is the time for Defence Minister Sajjan to get off his keister and provide our pilots and our SAR Techs with the tools they need to do their jobs and get home safely.
Colin Kenny is former chair of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence. Kennyco@sen.parl.gc.c | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/opinion/391188851.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/3072084ee8a017eaa6d65593fdec2b684406bb82391b47c369dcabd8f6cc6c75.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T18:47:44 | null | null | Rachel Grenon from Bromont, Que. is the Potters Place Gallery September guest artist. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fentertainment%2F391191681.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/4270comox09potters-Rachel.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Grenon to grace Potters Place | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | The opening reception for the Potters Place Gallery’s September artists (Rachel Grenon is seen above) is Sept. 9.
Rachel Grenon from Bromont, Que. is the Potters Place Gallery September guest artist.
Rachel has a deep connection to B.C. Her mother lives in the beautiful Comox Valley and her ceramics education took place at Emily Carr College. Rachel apprenticed under renowned B.C. potter, Vincent Massey.
You will be stunned by her large, dramatic platters, with glazes echoing the cold, crisp blue skies and fog of her home in Quebec.
Rachel’s pottery is sold in New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and the eastern townships of Quebec. The Potters Place Gallery is pleased to offer them to you for the month of September.
Concurrently, we are pleased to feature our own Shelley Combs for the month of September.
Colorful, whimsical and fantastical are the words that describe Shelley Combs’ work.
A graduate of both North Island College fine art diploma and a degree in fine art from Emily Carr University in Vancouver, Shelley tells a story with each of her pieces … a small mouse peeks from beneath an eave, curtains wave in the breeze, flowers tumble around a doorway. Functional and food safe, these little works of art beg to be taken home.
Join us for an opening reception on Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. to meet the artists and view their work. Potters Place Gallery is at the corner of 5th Street and Cliffe Avenue in Courtenay. For more information, call 250-334-4613 or visit thepottersplace.ca | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/entertainment/391191681.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/2dd188931332694d6787a926492ae1feb0e6df8da88bb9b3d80122e1aa2bf112.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:53:48 | null | null | The Abbotsford International Airshow takes place Aug. 12-14 and includes US Navy Super Hornets and the Breitling Jet Team | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fcommunity%2F389322101.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/80542abbotsfordMosquito_Mustang_ABBOTSFORDAIRSHOW_McAllister_Surrey.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Abbotsford Airshow: Heroes of the Skies | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | By JIM REITH, President Abbotsford Airshow
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2016 Abbotsford International Airshow – Heroes of the Skies! Gadgets, special suits, technology and the coolest flying machines… Learn what it takes to be a HERO at the 2016 Abbotsford International Airshow!
From August 12-14, Heroes of the Skies take flight over the Fraser Valley for the 54th annual Abbotsford International Airshow. Watch in awe as we welcome back the world-class Breitling Jet Team from Europe in the second and final year of their North American tour. Explore the McDonald’s Kids Zone and Science World on the Road! Experience Friday’s twilight show and fireworks finale! And, watch in awe as the Screamin’ Sasquatch Jet Waco, Boeing and US Navy Super Hornets, Snowbirds, Skyhawks and others take to the sky!
The Airshow is pleased to welcome the involvement of several key players in the aviation industry, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Eurofighter and more. Spectators will see Boeing’s involvement in dramatic fashion – as the aerospace giant will bring two jets to do corporate flying demos with a full array of simulated weapons, a simulation trailer and the test pilot will be available to talk about the exceptional capabilities of the aircraft. Lockheed Martin and Eurofighter are also on-site in various capacities with educational and promotional pieces.
“An aspect of the Airshow’s strategic vision is to strengthen key partnerships with aerospace organizations such as AIAC Pacific who produce an annual Aerospace & Defence trade show in conjunction with our airshow, and the CBAA which will hold its annual convention next year at Abbotsford in conjunction with the airshow as well. Looking to the future, we expect the Abbotsford Airshow will have a major aerospace trade show event occurring in the days prior to the public weekend show in the style of Farnborough and Paris airshows.”
Heroes of the Skies tell the stories of everyday women and men who work hard to make the world a better place, in their own communities and beyond. We are proud to honour them at this year’s Abbotsford International Airshow! Tickets for this action-packed weekend are available at Save-On-Foods or by clicking abbotsfordairshow.com.
Next Generation BC Amateur Photographer of the Year
Finalists for this year’s 4th annual Next Generation BC Amateur Photographer of the Year contest have now been selected. From Vernon to Victoria and from Surrey to Smithers, seventy finalists have been chosen from all corners of BC to move forward and compete in an intense competition at the Abbotsford International Airshow, where they will race against the clock to complete daily photo challenges. Finalists will shoot 10 of their best photographs and/or videos, to be reviewed by a judging panel — one will come out with the title of 2016 Next Generation Amateur Photographer of the Year. Almost 3,000 entries were received from 80 B.C. communities.
Whether you’re a finalist or not, this is a show you won’t want to miss: The Abbotsford International Airshow is world-renowned for its prestigious performers and family-friendly entertainment. The 2016 Airshow on August 12th through 14th will feature two jet teams, (Snowbirds and the European Breitling Jet Teams ) a Friday twilight show with fireworks, the Canadian Forces Skyhawks parachute team, and the US military jet, the Super Hornet to name but a few. More details visit www.abbotsfordairshow.com.
CLICK HERE FOR INTERACTIVE AIRSHOW SPECIAL INCLUDING VIDEO
Photographhs by Ken McAllister - 2015 Next Generation Amateur Photographer of the Year. Photographs featured from the 2015 Abbotsford Airshow.
Congratulations to all of the finalists in the 2016 Next Generation Amateur Photographer of the Year contest, sponsored by London Drugs, the Abbotsford International Airshow, and Black Press. To see photo gallery click here. See you there! | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/community/389322101.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/038f09bab49625b852d1a05a14a6b03db8da14221670dd0225359d8ed5a6f54a.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:12:45 | null | null | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fsports%2F390465581.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/61813comox09sailing-web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Plenty of summer fun for sailors at Comox Bay Sailing Club's regatta | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | The Comox Bay Sailing Club's Summer Fun Regatta lived up to its name this year.
The 2016 edition of the Comox Bay Sailing Club’s Summer Fun Regatta was fun indeed, and was sailed in a wide range of conditions over a two-day period – Mother Nature delivered it all.
Five classes participated in the regatta – Optimist, Laser Full Rig, Laser Radial, Club 420 (Gold and Silver) and the R18’s from Compass Adventures.
“We were very pleased to welcome sailors from West Vancouver Yacht Club, Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, Royal Victoria Yacht Club, Nanaimo Yacht Club, 19 Wing Sea Cadets and Hornby Island,” the CBSC notes on its website.
“Approximately 120 sailors raced on about 70 boats – what a spectacle! Thanks to all the out-of-towners for making the trip to Comox and to the Cadets for boosting the numbers.”
Racing began on the afternoon of Saturday, Aug. 6 when a light breeze filled in from the east. This was just enough wind for each fleet to get a single race in, and for the competitors to dust off the cobwebs.
Sunday was an entirely different story – sailing conditions were more reliable with everything from light to moderate southeasterly breezes in sunny, cloudy and then rainy conditions. All of the fleets participated in at least four races, making for exciting competition.
As to be expected there was great representation by CBSC athletes, the club notes. CBSC sailors Jack Griffith and Erik Leikermoser deserve a huge congratulations with first and second places respectively in the Opti White Class. Apparently they will continue to be forces to contend with in future sailing events.
CBSC 420 teams of Anja Leikermoser/Ally Howard and Rachel Anderson / Shaina Friedman demonstrated consistent results in a large fleet of 25 boats (420 Gold Fleet) and finished sixth and 15th place overall respectively – no small feat with so many 420s continually jockeying for position on races with multiple legs.
Finally, a huge congratulations to Sarah Clark – CBSC Dinghy Fleet Director – for winning the Laser Radial Class and the Laser Combined Class (Radial and Full Rig) overall.
Her hard work and dedication to our dinghies has obviously paid off and will undoubtedly step up the competition and help other sailors improve on the local scene, the club noted on its website.
Click the following link for the full list of results: CBSC Summer Fun Regatta 2016 – RESULTS.
The regatta would not have been possible without the leadership of Rob Douglas, CBSC Race Team Director, who not only worked hard to coordinate all of the volunteers but also provided valuable input for the actual running of the races.
Also a big thanks to Rob Woodbury who made the trip over from the mainland to serve as the regatta’s PRO (Primary Race Officer).
“We all built on what we learned last year at Sail West and look forward to hosting more major regattas in the future,” a CBSC spokesperson said.
The club also thanked all the regatta volunteers whose time and energy was instrumental for a successful event. | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/sports/390465581.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/452d6b0dcc2fce979a3121f7f52a926827d4ac121f756e79901036b0f7ffa777.json |
[
"Canadian Press"
] | 2016-08-26T13:09:03 | null | null | Notice means delivery could be cancelled as early as Monday | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fnews%2F391302051.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/68221BCLN200782072cranbrookdailyCPweb.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Postal union issues strike notice after it says Canada Post refused special mediator | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | The union representing most workers at Canada Post has issued a 72-hour notice of job action as it tries to bargain a collective agreement with the Crown corporation.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says the notice spells out what actions it is planning, but stops short of a full-blown walkout.
CUPW national president Mike Palecek says Canada Post forced the labour disruption by refusing to accept a request from the federal labour minister to continue negotiations with the help of a special mediator.
But a spokesman for the agency says that's not the case.
The union's strike mandate was set to expire at midnight.
The two sides have been in negotiations for more than nine months but are far apart on key issues including pay equity for rural carriers and proposed changes to the Canada Post pension plan.
The Canadian Press | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/news/391302051.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/486e42b9831a706fd6a6a0a49b54bada86ec1c9279003a5c51951834fb425e84.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:11:25 | null | null | Under the Glacier cartoon for Aug. 11, 2016 | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fopinion%2F389755991.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/22712comox09editcartoons_Page_1.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Castle takes on hospital parking | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | null | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/opinion/389755991.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/3530561cf4855c7b82f6e01f33912fc597175a8382adf5270da0c3cdcb4f2616.json |
[
"Tom Fletcher"
] | 2016-08-26T13:12:02 | null | null | Premier Christy Clark isn't going into next year's election with a promise to jack up Canada's only significant carbon tax | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fopinion%2F391051701.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/42735BCLN2007ClarkPolakNissanLeaf7web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | BC VIEWS: B.C. fails to save the planet | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | Premier Christy Clark and Environment Minister Mary Polak plug in an electric car at an announcement of the government's latest climate change plan in Richmond Aug. 19.
A B.C. Liberal operative was out with the online spin hours before Premier Christy Clark confirmed the much-leaked news in a Friday afternoon announcement at an obscure location in Richmond.
The, er, freeze is continuing for B.C.’s ground-breaking, world-saving carbon tax, which hasn’t changed since before Clark was elected in 2013.
The spin was Olympic-themed, with a picture labeled to show B.C. as a swimmer far out in the lead in the pool, to symbolize that it’s the other provinces that need to catch up in the race to save the planet.
Clark has been saying that for years, and there is merit to it. Even without a tax on “process emissions” such as from cement kilns, B.C.’s carbon tax encourages imports of non-taxed cement from the U.S. and China.
Alberta business professor Andrew Leach, who advised the Stephen Harper and then Rachel Notley governments on greenhouse gas policies, summed up the problem this way.
“Until the rest of the world has policies that impose similar cost, you’re not actually reducing emissions to the extent you think,” Leach said. “You’re just displacing the emissions and the economic activity to other jurisdictions.”
Alberta is moving to join B.C. with a modest carbon tax, but the NDP government plans to spend the proceeds rather than return them in income tax as B.C. has done. And Washington state and most of the rest of the world have no carbon tax as such, so their businesses benefit from B.C.’s “climate leadership.”
B.C.’s foreign-funded eco-radical community was, needless to say, appalled. The Pembina Institute’s Matt Horne and career protesters Tzeporah Berman and Merran Smith were named to the premier’s advisory committee last year, along with business, academic and aboriginal representatives.
They concluded that increases to B.C.’s broad-based tax on carbon fuels should resume its upward march in 2018.
Other committee members, including the mayors of Surrey, Comox and Burns Lake, were not heard from. Public discussion on this issue is now reduced to a staged conflict between those who demand a holy war on deadly carbon dioxide “pollution,” and those who don’t care if their grandchildren perish in a hell-fire of fossil fuel use.
We’ve just come off another El Nino year, like the hot year of 1998. Regular readers will recall the last time I discussed this topic was this spring, where I questioned the premier’s dire warnings of another horrendous forest fire season.
What followed has been one of the slowest forest fire seasons in the last decade, although dry conditions have finally emerged this month. Climate predictions, like next week’s weather forecast, are less than consistent.
I am regularly sent messages calling me a “climate change denier,” the nonsense term that continues to be used by federal Environment Minister Catharine McKenna among many others. I know of no one who denies that climate is always changing, at times dramatically.
If you wish to believe that paying an extra seven cents a litre for gasoline in B.C. is helping to slow the very gradual increase in temperatures we’re seeing in the northern hemisphere, you are free to do so.
You may even be persuaded to take a government subsidy and buy an expensive, short-range electric car. Me, I’m off to Prince Rupert and Revelstoke pretty soon, so I’ll stick with my little four-cylinder gas sipper for now.
Hydro-powered B.C. represents a small fraction of the less than two per cent Canada contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions. We’re not the problem, and no, the world is not looking to us for guidance.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/opinion/391051701.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/d5f15cb6842e5c98191761f14edcd90cd0f046dde0f3c49134f53aa9aabec93b.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:10:48 | null | null | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fopinion%2F391188191.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | No need for Stage 2 water restrictions | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | Dear editor,
Once again the regional district water wizard is showing his total rejection of common sense regarding the implementation of Stage 2 water restrictions.
I would like to comment on the statement that there is more water going out of the lake than is going in. Really? What a concept. Why, you would almost think it could be summer.
Just in case the wizard has forgotten, it happens every bloody year. While it is true that without a deep water intake only approximately 15 feet can be used, we in the Comox Valley use a minuscule portion of the available water.
If every person on the water system turned on their taps 24/7 for a year the water level in the lake would not fall four inches. Think about this and do the math: 16.1 square kilometres and 10cms deep. The amount of water will boggle your mind.
The statement that we must cut back by going to Stage 2 restrictions with a virtually full lake is absurd. Mr. Rutten, give your head a shake. You’re just fear mongering and should be ashamed of yourself.
Rob McCulloch
Area B | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/opinion/391188191.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/1784e91cfe2ba17ff374f74308d2bab518e042129c5c7d75815bab488a97e3f9.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:07:03 | null | null | Learn to Fish program offers instruction and loaner equipment to help children aged 5 to 15 catch a trout | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Flifestyles%2F381548981.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/69540BCLN2007Rainbowpembertonfishfinder7web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Free fishing lessons for kids [with video] | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | Courses offer loaner equipment and training in casting and proper fish handling.
Children aged five to 15 can take advantage of fishing instruction sessions being held around the province by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C. this summer.
The Learn to Fish program has been running since 2006. It provides loaned fishing gear as well as instruction on how to cast and retrieve, identify different fish species, handle fish properly and fish ethically within the regulations.
Locations and registration information for Learn to Fish courses is available here.
The Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C. is financed by revenue from B.C. fishing licence sales.
A sample of the instruction videos available on the society website: | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/lifestyles/381548981.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/d93c72078b5a02b8dba63d69c8b1b720f9b2b5b15e9cd66a1ee75bb9874b1aff.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:09:14 | null | null | Two watermain replacement projects are happening soon in downtown Courtenay. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fnews%2F391216561.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | Upcoming road construction in downtown Courtenay | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | Two watermain replacement projects are happening soon in downtown Courtenay, and will result in lane closures and temporary parking impacts.
Work on Anderton Avenue between Fifth and Sixth streets will begin on Monday, Aug. 29, and continue until early-October.
The start date for the second project on Duncan Avenue between Fourth and Sixth streets has not been finalized, but will begin sometime during the weeks of Sept. 6 or 12 and continue until late-October.
Vehicle traffic in both construction areas will be impacted, and on-street parking will be restricted.
Work will typically take place on weekdays between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Traffic control personnel will be on-site to assist all commuters, including vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.
For further information, contact City of Courtenay Engineering at 250-334-4441 or email engineering@courtenay.ca | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/news/391216561.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/26c190af234527db771a67b82b703c65b2b855902163b4262c0ef6059102996c.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:05:13 | null | null | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fentertainment%2F391181351.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | Aaron Pritchett plays Filberg Park on Aug. 25 | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | Mark Allan
Special to The Record
On the heels of a greatest-hits package, Aaron Pritchett comes to Comox bearing a hot new album called The Score.
“I love it,” said the Canadian country star, who concludes the 2016 Filberg Summer Concerts on Aug. 25 at Filberg Park. “I feel like this album alone is a bit of a greatest-hits collection.
“Every song on it I love and I’m really proud of it. There’s so much diversity in this record. It really shows not just my fun side … songs that are uptempo … it shows as an artist I’m a little more mature.”
After Dirt Road in ‘Em reached the top 10, Out of the Blue is doing well as the second single from the new release, he said in a phone interview. Pritchett indicated When A Momma’s Boy Meets A Daddy’s Girl will likely be the third single released.
His songs tend to exhibit the sharp wordplay and turn of phrase country songs are known for, as in Momma’s Boy and Dirt Road.
The latter tune asserts that everyone has some dirt road in them no matter where they’re from. Being raised in Kitimat, does Dirt Road have special meaning for Pritchett?
“That is where some of the motivation for recording that song came from. I definitely got that feeling of being on back roads, hanging out with friends and really doing nothing much of anything, just enjoying life.”
Pritchett’s songs, videos and performances are full of humour, such as his earlier smash hit Hold My Beer.
Responding to a question he said he’s never been asked previously, he admitted that a sense of humour is an important part of his personality.
“Since I was a little kid I always wanted to make people laugh. I always knew I wanted to be an entertainer; that was my thing.”
He confessed that he sometimes makes fun of the country genre.
“I don’t take it too seriously. It’s all meant to be just a lot of fun. I’m here to entertain as opposed to being a serious country artist.”
His country songs tend to have a sturdy rock underpinning, something he loved before discovering country in his 20s.
“I grew up in the rock world listening to a lot of rock and pop … so I come by that honestly.”
When he begins writing or choosing a song, he “definitely has a country thought process, and I have for the past 20 years.”
Then came a revelation.
“I listen to a lot of country, but I don’t buy a lot of country records. I buy a lot more adult contemporary stuff like Jason Mraz, and I’m a huge Adele fan, Amy Winehouse and people like that.”
That, he said, indicates a shift beginning with his next project.
“I’m not going to go for that country element so much. I just want to write some great music that I really like.”
Pritchett’s country fans don’t have to be concerned about his Aug. 25 Filberg Park show, which will begin with Dirt Road, continue with many of his hits and end with “a massive explosion of Hold My Beer.”
The talented local Luke Blu Guthrie Band featuring K.C. Hingley is the opening act.
The show starts at 7 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m.
For details, visit http://filberg.com/filberg-summer-concerts-2016, email events@filberg.com or phone 250-339-2715.
Mark Allan is a director of the Filberg Heritage Lodge and Park Association, and former editor of The Comox Valley Record. | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/entertainment/391181351.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/60a67ab7f9235b16d102db7aae894d84e1a8473286db1725510ec4e4ea6cc07a.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:10:58 | null | null | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fopinion%2F390595041.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/favicon2.ico | en | null | Comox Valley Record | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | You have already participated in this poll. Thank you!
Last Week's Question of the Week Final Results Would you support an increase in homeowner taxes as an alternative to paid parking at the hospital? Yes 52 %
No 47 % | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/opinion/390595041.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/bb6205d9b7933e7f7a72d0e657d7f8fcac95de739bb46112ac2cb7f3e04d2955.json |
[
"Tom Fletcher"
] | 2016-08-26T13:10:38 | null | 2014-02-04T00:00:00 | Guns intercepted at Pacific region border crossings up 116 per cent compared to this time last year | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fnews%2F391214101.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/12413BCLN2007Gunsabb-HuntingtonCBSA2014-2.4.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | U.S. border gun seizures double | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | Guns seized from visitors entering Canada at the Huntington-Abbotsford border crossing, 2014.
Canadian Border Services Agency has seen a 116 per cent increase in the number of firearms seized in the Pacific Region in the first half of 2016.
With a 10 per cent increase also recorded in the Prairie region, the CBSA is working with U.S. officials on a firearms awareness campaign to remind Americans about restrictions on bringing guns into Canada.
"Attempting to smuggle firearms across the border can result in immediate forfeiture, hefty fines and even significant jail time," said Kim Scoville, CBSA's regional director general for the Prairie region.
Visitors entering the border inspection line should declare any firearms at their first opportunity. Border services officers will take possession of the weapon if it is declared, but the visitor has the option of shipping it back under CBSA supervision or surrendering it without prosecution.
The RCMP has procedures for visitors bringing firearms into Canada | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/news/391214101.html | en | 2014-02-04T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/3e5c6da83573471b68631fc519d26542c9e8c04996529a825c723471fb581d29.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:59:32 | null | null | Joel Nagge and Aaron Newson are the principals at Vancity Seafoods. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fbusiness%2F387334621.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | A little Vancity in the Valley | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | Hans Peter Meyer
Special to The Record
Food entrepreneurs play an important role in shaping the future of our local economy. That’s why we’ll be featuring food entrepreneurs from our “local food business incubator, the Comox Valley Farmers’ Market – like Vancity Seafoods.
Who is Vancity Seafoods?
Joel Nagge and Aaron Newson are the principals at Vancity Seafoods. At the Comox Valley Farmers’ Market, however, it’s Aaron’s mom Kella-Lee Newson, and Joel’s wife Tatiana Baron, who are the face of the business. You’ll see them every week as long as supplies last, selling their specialty product: fresh frozen spot prawns.
While Joel and Aaron grew up around fishing, it was a new venture for Tatiana. “I was complaining about my office job in Vancouver,” Tatiana recalls. “Joel said, quit. Join us on the boat.” The decision to leave a desk job, and ultimately to leave Vancouver and settle in the Comox Valley, has been a life-changer for Tatiana.
A passion for sustainable seafood
“I love being out on the ocean,” she says, and she’s passionate about the fishery. It’s providing a livelihood for her family and it’s a sustainable fishery with little or no by-catch (unwanted and unmarketable fish caught by mistake).
Until recently 90 per cent of the spot prawn catch went overseas. That’s changing, and Tatiana sees Vancity Seafoods growing a local market for this international delicacy.
The Comox Valley Farmers’ Market is very important. It gives Tatiana and Kella-Lee first hand access to new customers, and it helps them educate people about this relatively new seafood option.
“If we’re going to grow our share of this fishery the market is one of the best places we can do that.”
The Sunday Cumberland Market
Vancity Seafoods is one of the vendors that is participating in the new Sunday market in Cumberland this summer. Stop by and ask Kella-Lee or Tatiana about B.C.’s famous spot prawns! | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/business/387334621.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/5c94791ccf8bc2ca1b6bcb54fb56760b1fdbb9974b71cdf7719dabac8888f19d.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T22:49:21 | null | null | Volunteers to ask seniors about staff, food, privacy, medications and other conditions in residential care | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Flifestyles%2F391445481.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/18269BCLN2007Nursinghomeflickr7web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Senior home survey seeks volunteers | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | B.C. has 300 seniors' care facilities, and residents and their loved ones are to be surveyed on conditions.
More than 250 volunteers have signed up to compile a survey of seniors in residential care, and B.C.'s Seniors Advocate is looking for more.
The 27,000 seniors living in 300 residential care facilities around the province are being asked about their experience with care home staff, the quality of food, privacy, medications and other conditions.
It's the first comprehensive survey done in B.C., to measure resident satisfaction and provide a "roadmap" for improvements, said Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie.
Interviews will be conducted in person by trained volunteers, and a matching mail-out survey will be sent to each resident's most frequent visitor.
The project is seeking volunteers with a range of professional backgrounds, ages and ethnicities. To apply as a volunteer, visit www.surveybcseniors.org or call the Office of the Seniors Advocate at 1-877-952-3181. | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/lifestyles/391445481.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/3afd9094089a3f504e47be5f85d4780f02b300ef1f77dec0bc822bfdbd5f34a3.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:04 | null | null | Upon reading the Azer article in the Aug. 9 Comox Valley Record it was clear that vital information was left out. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2F390975211.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | Vital information left out of Azer article | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | Upon reading the Azer article in the Aug. 9 Comox Valley Record it was clear that vital information was left out and that a biased point was presented.
“They (the Canadian government) failed to act.” “The elected officials need to step up their game and fight for the safe return of those children.”
One could understand that a mother’s frustration and even desperation in such a case could prompt her to lose patience with and even accuse the government of what appears to be its inaction on her behalf and on behalf of her children.
In order to better cope, a distraught mother in such a situation needs reassurance from someone who understands and who is in a position to interpret what appears to be cold, insensitive, thick bureaucratic procedures.
MP Gord Johns, and his leader Tom Mulcair, could have been that source of assistance and support for Alison Azer.
However, as evidenced by the information presented in the follow up article in the Aug. 11 edition of The Record, it is disappointingly clear that Mr. Johns contributed to making the problem worse, not better, for Ms. Azer.
While being well aware that everything possible is being done by our government, Mr. Johns chose to tell Ms. Azer and everyone else otherwise.
The press secretary from the office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not have been more correct when she said: “The responsibility lies with all parliamentarians to work together and resist politicizing consular cases to help Canadians in trouble abroad.
“Calling on the government to provide an explanation for a rationale that was previously shared and understood does nothing to advance our shared goal of seeing the children safely returned home.”
Unfortunately, the only form of accountability here is through the court of public opinion. Budding politicians take note.
Mike Couture
Comox | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/opinion/letters/390975211.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/c7427824b3d2024e86cd60f2adeecc6e874e2a6c470ddddfd862f874a7c37ddd.json |
[
"Scott Stanfield"
] | 2016-08-26T12:56:43 | null | null | Eduardo Uranga’s energy bills are next to nothing, thanks to a solar water heater in his Cumberland home. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fcommunity%2F391100741.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/62859comox09solar.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Solar power results in huge energy bill savings | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | Eduardo Uranga’s energy bills are next to nothing, especially this time of year, thanks to a solar water heater in his Cumberland home.
His bills run about $2 per month.
“May, June, July has been like nothing,” said Uranga, who had the heater installed in May. “It’s doing what it’s supposed to. It would take 50 per cent or more of the actual use of hot water off the bill.”
In the past, he said the biggest barrier of the technology has been cost. These days, however, he said the price for a system that would produce 300 litres of hot water a day is $2,900.
“Canada has looked at this in the past,” Uranga said. “They had an incentive of $1,250, but if you put that into an $8,800 bill, it doesn’t make any sense.”
In 2011, the City of Vancouver had a program that would pay $3,000 to a household to install a solar water heater, but he said a “price tag of $7,000 or $8,000 just didn’t fly.”
Uranga has been involved with the technology since the 1980s. He had started a solar water heating business in his home country of Mexico, and is now in the process of starting a local company.
In terms of environmental benefits, Uranga said a solar water system reduces the carbon footprint of a home by 1.6 tonnes a year.
“That pretty much erases the footprint,” he said. “Canada has a huge commitment to the world on the Paris Agreement, on reduction of carbon emissions.
“More than 60 per cent of water heaters in Canada are natural gas or some kind of combustion. Solar water heating can make a big dent on this, starting with the Comox Valley,” he added.
In 2011, the outdoor swimming pool in Courtenay was outfitted with a solar heating system to warm the water. The technology includes 16 solar panels and a thermal cover. | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/community/391100741.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/5600a8ae4095ffbfc128f5012122ca160c456a42e38dd36e6fd6de7e73372607.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:18 | null | null | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2F391187821.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | Fish Toss helps MARS help injured eagles | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | Dear editor,
One of the fun attractions in the Kids Zone at the Nautical Days Festival was the Fish Toss, and while it was a riot for the spectators and probably loads of fun for the young participants – the real winners are the eagles currently in care at MARS.
All the fish used in the Fish Toss game has gone to feed our recovering birds. Each fish will feed a recovering eagle for a day.
It costs us about $10 per day to look after an injured or orphaned raptor until it can be released again to the wild.
Donations such as the salmon from the Nautical Days Fish Toss help us to help wildlife. Fresh salmon is especially important as it doesn’t require vitamin supplements like the frozen fish do.
High quality food and a low stress environment are the most important factors in aiding the recovery of our patients. And we thank the organizers for their generous gift.
Warren Warttig RPBio
president MARS Wildlife Rescue Centre | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/opinion/letters/391187821.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/c6b31619d7f388df28c6ea741e93fb4ae5ac9329807d10c2998452e36ae74679.json |
[
"Jeff Nagel"
] | 2016-08-26T13:10:20 | null | null | $60 a year increase for most drivers once optional auto insurance increase is included | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comoxvalleyrecord.com%2Fnews%2F391304001.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/52753BCLN2007CarcrashLangleyfile.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | ICBC seeks 4.9 per cent basic rate hike as crashes, costs climb | null | null | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com | ICBC wants to increase basic auto insurance rates by 4.9 per cent – the fifth straight annual increase – as it continues to grapple with rising numbers of crashes, claims and dramatically increasing costs.
The typical driver will pay $3.50 a month or $42 a year more for basic insurance if the hike is approved.
But the corporation is also raising optional rates by 2.8 per cent so the average customer who buys both basic and optional insurance with ICBC will see their insurance bill rise $5 a month, or $60 a year.
ICBC CEO Mark Blucher said the basic rate hike would have been much worse – 15.5 per cent translating into a $130 annual premium increase – had the province not approved another major transfer of $472 million from the optional to the basic side of operations.
A compounding factor has been the long decline of interest rates, which result in less investment income revenue to ICBC.
"These external pressures have really created a perfect storm and it's a really significant challenge for the organization," Blucher said in an interview Thursday.
ICBC had raised rates 5.5 per cent a year ago, and the province's rate smoothing policy requires the annual change be within 1.5 per cent of the previous year's increase.
The number of crashes has climbed 15 per cent in two years and damage claims are up 11 per cent.
Vehicles are increasingly reliant on technology and expensive materials that have become more costly in recent years as the loonie sagged against the U.S. dollar.
Despite much safer vehicles, injury claims have soared to $2.4 billion, up 60 per cent from $1.5 billion in 2008.
"We've seen no evidence that these strong trends are abating," Blucher said. "In fact, if anything, they're continuing to escalate going forward."
Blucher also noted there are more cars on the road in B.C. today – 3.1 million up from 2.8 million in 2011 – and people are driving more because of cheaper gas, contributing to more accidents, particularly in densifying urban areas.
And he pointed to personal injury lawyers as an aggravating cause of ICBC's spiralling claims costs.
"B.C. is the only province in Canada where you can sue another motorist for even a minor traffic accident," Blucher said, noting an increase in lawyer-represented claims and advertising by injury law firms.
Internal operating costs have been cut by $186 million a year, and ICBC is counting on more savings ahead, through its modernization program, by more aggressively combatting insurance fraud and from a hoped-for drop in distracted driving as motorists respond to stiffer penalties.
But transfers from the optional side to bolster the basic side will likely be needed for the foreseeable future, Blucher said, because basic premiums can't keep up with rising costs.
In a surprise move, the B.C. government will this year forgo extracting its usual $160-million annual dividend from ICBC's optional side into general revenue.
"Forgoing the dividend this particular year is one strategy amongst a litany of others we're employing to get that basic trate increase down," Transportation Minister Todd Stone said.
Stone said the $514 million the province has transferred out of ICBC in dividends since 2012 is small compared to the $1.4 billion over the same period that has been shifted from the competitive optional side to basic to apply downward pressure on basic rates.
The minister would not say if the government would permanently give up the ICBC dividend.
Adrian DIx, the NDP critic for ICBC, said the dividends to government have exceeded $1.2 billion since 2010 and predicted they'll resume after next year's election because the BC Liberals are "addicted" to using ICBC as a "profit centre."
Dix said the reliance on shifting huge amounts of capital from optional to basic raises troubling questions.
"Next year they've got to find that $472 million," Dix said. "What they've done is create a disaster at ICBC and their only hope is to deceive the voters until after the election."
He said ICBC's new move to hire more claims staff underscores problems with completing the computer modernization that was supposed to make operations more efficient.
"The transformation project has taken longer than World War 2 and is not close to finished."
ICBC's basic rates rose 11.2 per cent in 2012 and at least five per cent every year since.
The new rate hike is subject to B.C. Utilities Commission approval.
ICBC Rate Pressure Charts | http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/news/391304001.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/37a95cb83ac9eac70e2df8fa1c0f7ae23637ca50eac211f59ace3e938be44ee6.json |
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