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Recently, the City of Asheville announced the winners of the Do the Write Thing (DtWT) essay contest, six contestants from ACS and six from the Bumcombe County Schools. The BCS winner was 8th grader Noah Graham from North Bumcombe Middle School. From Asheville City Schools, a seventh-grader at Asheville Middle named Caroline Barton won with her poem titled 'I AM.' This is her entry for the contest:
I am. I am many things to many diverse people. I am troubled. I am poor. I am different. I am a survivor. I am a prisoner. I am a liar. I am shrouded. I am lost. Troubled. I am “troubled.” Says the file in the principal’s office. Says the white kids, glares in their eyes and suspicious glances at lunch. Says my parents, one in jail and another working three jobs. Poor. I am poor. I live in the projects. I live in the “don’t-drive-here-at-night.” The Quik Mart on the familiar corner, graffiti swooping over the forest-green dumpsters. The harsh bars over the dingy windows and doors prove that even our own think we’re monsters. Different. I am different. My family, fractured. Dad in the pen for something he didn’t do. Mom, coming home too tired to think. Much too tired to give a solitary thought about me My brother, already up and gone and into “the bad stuff,” my mother says. ‘Don’t think about selling drugs,’ she tells me. Don’t try getting into what Jamal got into. Don’t try to shoot a friend, it doesn’t even matter what the reason is. Don’t. Please. Survivor. I am the ultimate survivor, many times over. I saw many things: I saw innocent blood on the sidewalk. I saw police cars pull up too late to save a life. I saw a loaded gun, wedged between Jamal’s shirts in his drawer. That was the gun that solemnly swore me into secrecy. Prisoner. I am a prisoner to myself, inextricably bound by a shameful secret. I saw Jamal pull a gun on his family. I saw my brother, Jamal. Affectionately, J. The brother I had admired. The man who had taught me how to live. The rules: Attack first. Always get revenge. Never cry. Never snitch. Fists decide things, not words. The rules told me how to survive in this hateful world. But then I saw him shoot to kill. I saw him shoot. To. Kill. A gun. The steel tool that tormented my soul. Its steel parts gleamed in the streetlamp’s light. Jamal raised the weapon and killed the person who was trying to do right. His own half-brother, DeVante A shoot-out for all the wrong reasons. DeVante wasn’t armed. He was walking with his hands in his sweatshirt pockets, alone. He was grieving; his pitbull Chance had just died. But J didn’t know, nor did he want to. DeVante looked suspicious, and when he stopped and talked to his half-brother, Jamal thought he was up to no good. DeVante. My best friend, not just my sort-of brother. He used to talk late into the night when he came over. Girls, school, why we lived here, in the dredges of society We would ask each other hard questions. He would answer my own better than even Jamal could. We were half-brothers, but we were blood brothers. I loved him better than I ever loved Jamal. The police arrived too late as usual. Too late to arrest Jamal, who was long gone Too late to save DeVante With a bullet in his gut I heard J’s words in my mind, as clear as day. “Never snitch, especially not to the police.” Liar. I am a liar. Our “protectors” asked roughly for information. They picked people out of the crowd at random. Me. Mr. Harrison, who runs the Quik Mart. Ms. Shanice, the nice candy lady. Asia, who lives five flimsy doors down. A few others I didn’t know. All black. All here, down in the shallow recesses of life. I divulged nothing. No, I didn’t see it happen. No, I am not close to the “alleged suspect.” No, I didn’t know who the “alleged suspect” might be. No, I didn’t know who was shot. No, I don’t come here often. No, I don’t know where the gun is. Shrouded. I am nothing to them. They think we're dirt. They don't know us. I am lost, I am a ghost. A nameless, faceless, brown-skinned ghost. They asked me questions about my two favorite people and some I couldn’t answer. How could I, with DeVante dead and Jamal, my own brother, a murderer? I tried hard not to cry, sitting awkwardly on the sticky vinyl chair. J’s rules say I can’t cry. Jamal was even worse than Father Williams. He preached those rules like they were God’s sacred laws But he was gone. And he had killed. Did anything he says really matter anymore? I put my head down slowly and let the dams break. Tears rolled down my cheeks, my shoulders shook. A loud sound escaped me, a sound I’d never heard before. A sob, a cry. Jamal. DeVante. My safe spaces. Both gone from my life. I was alone, I was vulnerable. Lost. I am lost. The next day. The world has ended but life still goes on. I walk wearily by the corner where Jamal killed DeVante. I see the blood on the cracked sidewalk. Mr. Harrison stands a good ten feet away from the dark pool, spraying the area carefully with a hose. The light hits the water just right, creating a rainbow within the droplets. A light in the drowning darkness. I whisper to myself and hope that DeVante will come back. Or that I will go to meet him. *Note: this story is fictional. I composed this poem to highlight the feelings of those who have seen terrible things, things that cannot be told again. Story by Caroline Barton  The opioid crisis is on the rise and has been affecting the U.S. dramatically. Opioids are a class of drugs including heroin and a variety of painkillers. In the U.S., from 1999 to 2017, there have been more than 400,000 opioid overdoses. The numbers are only increasing. In 2017, there has been a significant increase. City Sheriff says, “We are having an opioid epidemic in North Carolina.” Many people are affected by opioids since they can be prescribed by your doctor and are easily accessible. A large majority of opioids are painkillers, so if you broke your arm, you could potentially become addicted to opioids. Our county especially is a victim of opioids. According to Addiction Center, just in 2016, 17 million painkillers have been prescribed in Buncombe County. The opioid epidemic is on the rise and we need to stop it.
Many people take opiates as a way of escaping from the real world, but using these drugs can have some consequences that many aren’t fully informed about. Some major physical effects of opiates on the body are Increased sensitivity to sensory stimuli, constricted blood vessels, increased heart rate, high blood pressure, increased energy, decreased appetite, physical agitation, difficulty sleeping, over-arousal and hyper-vigilance. There are also a lot of mental side effects of opiates including increased general anxiety, anxiety attacks, euphoria, psychosis, depression, irritability, and lowered motivation. Opioids have many terrible consequences on your body and mind but can also have negative effects on the community surrounding you. The opioid epidemic is a very serious issue in Asheville and Buncombe County. Opioids and other prescription drugs are on the rise in Asheville and are leading to many deaths and other issues. According to Sheriff Quentin Miller, there have been 110 opioid overdoses in Buncombe County this year, and that number is increasing. A side effect of opioid and other pain medication abuse is Heroin abuse, which is also on the rise in NC. Bluebanner.net said that many college students are coming to UNCA with pain medication addiction, and when they can't get their hands on oxycontin, they turn to heroin as a cheaper alternative. Recently, there have been initiatives towards investigating narcotic transportation through North Carolina. This narcotic transportation line is how many opioids get into North Carolina, and most recently how Mexican Black Tar Heroin has been getting in. According to Sheriff Quentin Miller, “Not a week has gone by where someone hasn’t died from opioids.” These drugs are destroying our very communities which we call home, and have cause pain in many’s lives. Opioids affect our communities in many ways. The opioid crisis has caused pain and suffering to families in our community. They break up homes from the lack of trust between family members. Opioids can cause homelessness and increase crime rates, as well as incarceration rates. Incarceration rates further strain the taxpayers. Opioids can increase the number of deaths from an overdose which affects the police/fire departments because they are required to tend to the opioid users. But instead, they could be spending their time dealing with different issues. Though getting addicted to opioids seems very hard to recover from, there is still hope. Several rehabilitation centers have popped up throughout Buncombe County. The Sheriff of Asheville says that they just received money from the state to create a rehab program for jail inhabitants in Asheville. A few of the rehab programs focusing on opioids in Buncombe County are Crest View Recovery Center, Mountain Treatment Center and Western Carolina Treatment Center. As well as these centers people all around the country are taking actions to help prevent and stop the opioid epidemic from becoming bigger than it already is. The first step is becoming aware of this problem. Make sure you know how addictive painkillers are and warn others about this ongoing issue. Hopefully, we will rise and spread awareness about this urgent topic in today’s world. By Olivia Crosson, Liv Suydam, Will Euler, and Talula Perry Sources: https://www.deltamedcenter.com/addiction/opiates/signs-symptoms-effects/ https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis https://www.hhs.gov/opioids/about-the-epidemic/index.html https://www.addictioncenter.com/rehabs/north-carolina/asheville/ https://www.drugabuse.gov/opioid-summaries-by-state/north-carolina-opioid-summary https://www.gatewayfoundation.org/faqs/effects-of-drug-abuse/ http://thebluebanner.net/smoke-and-mirrors-the-dark-side-of-drug-use-in-asheville/ https://www.addictioncenter.com/rehabs/north-carolina/asheville/ https://www.freerehabcenters.org/city/nc-asheville https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/understanding-drug-use-addiction http://headsup.scholastic.com/students/get-the-facts-drug-abuse-puts-your-whole-body-at-risk https://www.thetruth.com/o/the-facts/all  Public safety is a huge problem anywhere you go. Each city has to deal with public safety and have a way to keep it under control. In Asheville there are many aspects to public safety. Some of them include the police, fire fighters, the hospital, EMT, city budgets, safety measures, and substance abuse problems.
Police The police's job in Asheville is to protect the city and its citizens. Their are 428 employers in buncombe county. Recently there has been a controversial video that was released by the police that was an officer involved shooting. Most people are classifying this video as police brutality. This video was of two white male police officers beating a black male and forcibly arresting him after he supposably jaywalked and trespassed. This was a body-cam video. The officers were Officer Ruggiero and Officer Hickman and the man who was supposably jaywalking and trespassing was Mr. Johnnie Jermaine Rush. Fire Fighters There are 12 fire stations located in Asheville. The AFD protects lives, property, and environment of Asheville. They are trying to prevent fire occurrence and minimize fire damage. The AFD offers several programs to learn about fire and fire safety for all ages. Fire Fighters in Asheville has an association, IAFF. IAFF was chartered in 1932 but were rechartered in 1946. The association has been thriving for years and continues to work. Mission Health It is the 6th largest health center in the state and the largest for Western North Carolina. There are 7 mission health centers in Asheville located in downtown/Biltmore and south Asheville area. It consists of almost 1000 physicians and over 50 medical specialists in subspecialties. They have more than 12000 employees and more than 2000 volunteers. The hospital is licensed for 795 beds. Safety Measures There are many safety measures here in Asheville that helps make our community a safer place to live in. There is a public safety committee in Asheville that meets and discuss public safety issues in Asheville. They go over subjects such as the illegal use of drugs, cooperation with law enforcement, education organizations, and traffic laws/patterns. There are three members on the committee and they meet at the town hall. They meet to try to make Asheville a safer place for everyone living here. City Budgets The budget division works to plan, prepare, and monitor the budgets for the city. The division also assists the city manager and other departments in performance management, planning, forecasting, evaluation, and budget. Officials in Asheville have recently approved a new $190 million city spending plan. The plan will take effect on July 1st, 2019. The money will go to the city of Asheville, to water systems, police, fire-fighters, construction, transit, homelessness, etc. EMT AN EMT is an emergency medical technician. They are trained to respond quickly to an emergency situation. Some situations are medical issues, traumatic injuries, and accident scenes. There is a 6 week pilot program to examine the roles as an EMT and public safety officials. The city of Asheville wants a healthy and safe environment for our community, the Asheville Fire Department will function with 2 bike teams in conjunction with the current Police Department Units. Substance Abuse Substance abuse in Asheville is a huge problem. There are many places in Asheville were you can get free help and many rehab facilities. A Lot of the problem has come from painkillers or opioids. Over 17 million painkillers have been prescribed in buncombe county in 2016 alone. Just from January to august in 2017 there was 230 overdoses. That's roughly about 1 death per day. In 2015 399 babies that were born in mission hospital tested positive for opioid substances. According to Sherif miller “Opioids have no boundaries, there is no limit, no color or race.” He says, “When people start dying we will start talking.”In an attempt to reduce the opioid crisis in Asheville the city has made places were you can go and drop off your pills and have banned lower prescription opioids in buncombe county. Story by Ariella Valdiviezo, Hadley Wallace, Emma Locane, Sydney Edwards, and Chloe Summerlin SOURCES: https://www.ashevillenc.gov/news/asheville-police-department-releases-details-on-officer-involved-shooting/ https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/07/us/asheville-police-beating-black-man.html https://www.ashevillenc.gov https://missionhealth.org https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Health_System https://rhahealthservices.org/c3356-comprehensive-care-center/ https://www.ashevillenc.gov/news/city-of-asheville-to-launch-community-emt-pilot-program-downtown/ https://www.ncdhhs.gov https://www.ncdps.gov https://www.octoberroadinc.net/ https://www.wncna.org https://www.addictioncenter.com/rehabs/north-carolina/asheville/  Homelessness around the world has been downplayed over the past few years, the issue pushed down or brushed off by the government until it didn't seem like such a big deal to a lot of people anymore. It became something most people scorned, finding the homeless disgusting or weird, beginning to blame these people for the situation they ended up in without knowing the full story. It isn't always the case, however, that these people are totally at fault for what happened to them. A sizable amount of the homeless population consists of men or women who came back home after serving for the military to find they had lost their property, or their families had left them, and ended up on the streets after the government had turned a blind eye on their predicament. Children also make up a good portion of the homeless population in both America and Asheville alone.
Throughout America, homelessness has decreased by 0.3% between 2017 to 2018, surprising? Well, it’s still not enough, throughout the US, over 552,000 people were homeless in 2018. Half of the people experiencing homelessness in 2018 were in one of five states, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: “California (24%), New York (17%), Florida (6%), Texas (5%) and Washington (4%). African Americans represent 13% of the US’s population but 40% of them are homeless and 1/2 of the 40% are children.” Males are more likely to be homeless than females, 60% of the homeless are males in 2018, according to HUD. In January 2018, 38,000 veterans faced homelessness on a given night, the rate of overall homelessness has also dropped significantly. In the United States as a whole we have to work to decrease the homeless population but, how is homelessness in Asheville, NC. Asheville has had a spike in homeless numbers since 2017 with a 10 percent increase due to lack of affordable housing. The U.S housing estimates that a homeless person costs taxpayers $40,000 per year and in Buncombe county that estimates to $22 million dollars. Due to the lack of sufficient housing around the country having homeless numbers increase has been a trend. This means that those who are homeless stay homeless longer. Sadly 43 percent of the homeless population in Buncombe county are veterans due to many different reasons. Luckily Asheville has a lot of organizations that can help homeless people and those in need. One of the biggest questions about homelessness is, are certain groups more likely to be homeless than others? This is true, for example, Eighty percent of homelessness is split equally between African Americans or Caucasians according to a study from the National Alliance to End Homelessness in 2018. Ten percent of that goes to mix and the rest goes to Alaska Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander and Asian. There is a lot of disproportionality among African Americans. They take forty percent of homelessness but are thirteen percent of the general population of the United States. The big problem is that this imbalance is not improving. We can do something about it like assuring affordable, stable housing for all. Some of the top causes of homelessness are lack of affordable housing, unemployment, poverty, mental illness, and substance abuse. These factors can lead to homelessness in a matter of time. There are multiple ways to prevent homelessness. Homeless prevention includes policies, practices, and interventions to reduce the likeliness of people losing their homes. There are three types of homeless prevention: Universal, which targets the broad public, Selected which is aimed at members of specific groups, and Indicated, which is aimed at individuals identified with problems. If these ways of prevention don’t work and one becomes homeless, going to a homeless shelter is a good first step. There are seven main shelters here in Asheville, some for children, some for women, and some for all. Some shelters provide overnight stays, but some just have meals. Helping the homeless can be really easy as well. You can go to a local shelter and ask what materials are needed and donate some. Before you personally help someone, make sure you know their situation and if they want help. Homelessness in Asheville is a major problem, but there are many ways to prevent it and help those affected. Story by Sarah Comer, Lily Severance, Sierra Stock, Taylor Franklin,  If you are an Asheville native or a long time visitor you will come to notice the influx of tourists during the holidays. Though many see this as a gateway for the world to explore and grow Asheville, there are also many who think that the city should be more focussed on its long term people instead of the ones visiting. There has been a huge rise in hotels around the cities and the tax for it has risen. One of the biggest problems is the space that Asheville has. It's a small town surrounded by mountains and recently land has been spared.
Many may have heard about the new law that the city has passed called Asheville Hotel Moratorium. It is a law that prohibits any new contracts and construction not already started in the city before the law passed. After the protest of many locals the government seemed to listen and take action. In the article by Citizen times they interviewed area director john Beatty and he had this to say “We are concerned that the proposed study focuses solely on hotel development rather than the issue of overall land use planning and development in the community." Though many might be affected by this law mainly company's citizens are surely happy this law passed. Many may ask why Asheville is a very popular tourist attraction. It may be because of the beautiful mountain scenery that pulls people in or the unique and diverse things and people to interact. It is known for hikes and tours around the beautiful downtown stated by the website Culture trip. It is also known for its many breweries and the unique art. Many can come and express their interest and not be judged and that oils in aloe for dreamers and visitors. Whether it be for the amazing views, brews, art, and or music this is a big factor for the increase of people and construction for hotels in the area. Many wonder why Asheville is a big tourist city, lots of people who live in Asheville wonder why the tourists think of Asheville as such an amazing thing. Well to be honest, the reason that tourists really love Asheville is mostly for the beer that the local brewing companies make, the beer that is in Asheville is made with our local corn, wheat, nuts and fruit that are used in all of our local recipes. Locally owned boutiques and shops are also a big reason that the tourists love to come to Asheville. Tourists love to come and spend their money anywhere they go, for some reason it is just a thing that they love to do. Tourists also like the beautiful mountain scenery that has a southern- Appalachian mountain type feeling. The money that tourism provides to our city is what makes this city want to build more of what they have WAY too much of, "BEER COMPANIES”. The amount of money that the tourism industry in Asheville generates is around 119.2 million dollars per year. The tourists spend up to 5.4 million dollars daily. 1 out of 7 jobs in the city are supported by the tourism industry. More than 30k people visit the city of Asheville each day. By Trayson Akbar & Gavin Cummings SOURCES: https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2019/06/10/asheville-buncombe-hotel-tax-haul-projected-grow-25-m/1367910001/ https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2019/09/24/asheville-city-council-bans-hotel-construction-1-year-moratorium-tourism/2434254001/ https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2019/02/22/why-are-there-so-many-hotels-in-asheville-because-demand-is-there-analyst-says/2949074002/ https://www.ashevillenc.gov/news/city-council-approves-1-year-asheville-hotel-moratorium/ https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/north-carolina/articles/13-reasons-visit-asheville-north-carolina/  Image of Asheville drag queen Calcutta Asheville is a very interesting city with many things to do and many different types of people. Today, I’m writing a story on some drag performers in this city. I interviewed the drag queen Calcutta, who is based here in Asheville. Here are Calcutta’s answers:
When did you first become interested in drag? I first became interested in drag when I was 14. I started doing drag professionally at 16 and have been pretty booked up since then. I got into the art because it combined all my passions of fashion, makeup, and performing. But ever since I was a child I always knew I was queer and loved dressing up, so why not make a career out of it. What are the different styles of drag that you see in Asheville? Asheville’s drag scene is surprisingly really big and diverse. Priscilla Chambers (my drag mom) does punk shows at the Odditorium and our style of drag is very new, edgy, and rock and roll. But across the pond at Scandals and O'Henrys they’re very pretty and basic but despite our differences, we often share venues and shows. There are performers who do androgyny, pageant drag, punk drag, and cookie-cutter drag but the Asheville scene is very supportive of all. What’s your favorite part about drag? My favorite part of drag is the smiles and joy I see in people when I’m performing or walk into the club. I feel proud to be who I am and show people, old and young, it's ok to be who you are and to be fabulous while doing it. Also, I'm a Leo and I honestly love attention, so that aspect is nice, being a big name in Asheville is like being a B-list celebrity. What trends do you see in the Asheville drag scene currently? Drag does go through trends, one I see currently is because drag is so mainstream with Rupaul's DragRace and Dragula, everyone and their brothers want to start doing drag. I believe in everyone doing what they feel called to do, but it also is creating an oversaturation of drag in our small town and causes queens and shows to not be as respected as they were. Another trend is newer queens feeling the need to copy other queens. They see a famous RuGirl wearing a bodysuit so they go on Amazon and buy the same one when they should actually take more time to find out their style and realize that being themselves is the way to make it big What do your family and friends think of your profession? I’m not going to say I had a terribly hard life, but I did move out of my parents when I was 17. Not because I was gay or they didn’t love me just situationally I saw it as the best option. From being on my own I’ve done drag 2-3 times a week while trying to maintain a day job. My parents are supportive somewhat, but they still feel I should have gone to school and focused on a real career. But, if I’m doing what I love and making money from it, then it feels like a career to me. Being an artist is hard and I literally put “starving” in “starving artist” but I don’t change because it’s my passion and brings me the most happiness in my life. My friends have always been supportive and think it’s amazing the things I’ve achieved and do. Like I said it feels like being a mini Asheville celebrity As we can see from Calcutta’s answers, the drag scene in Asheville is very diverse. Other drag queens based in Asheville are drag queen Reptilian Anderson, Ginger von Snap, and Queen Priscilla Chambers, who is currently competing on the drag show, Dragula, which you can view on Out TV or Amazon Prime. As drag is becoming more mainstream, people want to focus on the more famous queens like Manila Luzon, Trixie Mattel, or Alyssa Edwards and might be overlooking great local queens. The pure art and performance of drag could slowly be lost if local drag scenes are ignored. We need to appreciate the heart and soul of drag, especially the people putting in the most work: the local girls. Appreciating drag on the local level can also lead to giving lesser-known queens more opportunities. Story by William Euler  After almost 30 years, The Toy Box is closing on December 22. The Toy Box originally opened in 1987, and has been important to the North Asheville community. Why is it closing? Gary Green, The Toy Box owner, has wanted to retire and sell The Toy Box to a new owner for almost 5 years but has not been able to find a buyer. It has been hard for Mr. Green to find a buyer because toy stores around the U.S. are going out of business, such as Toys R Us. (Why are they going out of business? Online shopping?) The Toy Box was always a place that my mom and I would go to get a last minute gift on our way to a birthday party. Many people are sad to see the Toy Box close and it will be missed.
On the Mountain Xpress website, there is a short story of someone that moved to Weaverville 14 years ago. He said that Mr. Green always made them feel welcome, and he and his kids would play there for hours. He is sad that he can´t shop for his future grandkids there, but says Green´s retirement is well deserved. Another review by Thomas Graser says, ¨Best place to buy toys - period!¨ I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Green and ask him some questions! When Mr. Green decided to buy The Toy Box, he says it was because he wanted a business of is own and he thought a toy store would be a good one. Mr. Green said that one of his favorite parts of owning The Toy Box was seeing sick kids that would come to The Toy Box after their treatments. He was happy that those kids had somewhere to relieve their stress after going through a difficult time. He also told me that after 9,125 days (25 years) in the business, he plans to retire and catch up on the chores he’s been too busy to do that last 25 years such as, volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, raise money for Alzeihmers disease research, and spend time with his family. “I don’t think I ever realized how much joy a child gets from being in a toy store… that’s something that I’ll cherish for a long time,” Mr. Gary Green. Until December 22nd (when the Toy Box closes) everything in the store will be 10% to 50% off! I walked by The Toy Box the other day and saw that almost everything was gone so if you need something go soon! I wish someone would buy The Toy Box from Mr. Green and keep it the way it is! I want kids even younger than me to have the same experience that I did, because you don’t see many small stores like the Toy Box that the people there will help you find the perfect gift. I think that it is a good piece of the community and is also convenient. Although I understand Mr. Green must retire, I hope somebody new will come along and keep it as it is or even make it better. Story by Tate Lloyd Image Link  Snow covered trees by Barret B. This weekend, Western North Carolina is expecting a winter storm to arrive on Saturday evening around 7pm EST. It has been rumored that Asheville and many other counties will receive up to 22 inches of snow along with rain and sleet. Many students are anxious with excitement for the snow hoping for no school the following week.
Citizens of Asheville were given a warning to stay home and stock up on food before the storm had even reached the mountains on Thursday and Friday. The snow was long anticipated by many on Friday evening, but did not arrive until around 12 PM Saturday when a rain shower began in Asheville and continued throughout the day until a light snow began later that day. The snow on Saturday began at around 5 PM and lasted all night until 9 AM Sunday morning, when thousands of people woke up to find a winter wonderland outside of their home. The snow continued all day, some areas of Western North Carolina received up to 3 feet of snow in the first 48 hours of the storm. Asheville was expected to receive between 8-12 inches according to Citizens Times, but many woke up on Sunday to almost a foot of snow, the storm left many stuck and unable to leave their home after the storm. Those who could leave their homes took advantage of the snow and went to the local ski slopes at Cataloochee ski area in Maggie Valley, NC; only a 40 minute drive. After the main parts of the storm hit Asheville, thousands of people had no power and were told they wouldn't have power for up to a week. On Monday December 10, snow began melting and main roads and highways were clear enough to travel short distances, Residents were still told to stay inside due to the temperatures dropping below freezing and refreezing the melted snow, creating black ice on roads and sidewalks all around the city. Many schools were also closed after the weekend, some schools were closed till Wednesday. On Wednesday December 12 the majority of the snow storm had melted and only back roads were still snowy and icy. Locals all around began to have power in their homes again between Tuesday and Wednesday, and some were able to return back to school and work. Asheville City Schools started back on Thursday, 12/13 with a 3 hour delay. Western North Carolina and South Carolina are still working to get the areas affected back to normal after winter storm Diego came through this past weekend leaving many stuck in their homes. Some areas of North Carolina including Asheville are still under a special weather statement put out by the National weather Service . City workers have been working very hard to scrape main roads and highways and putting out snow salt on sidewalks all around cities and public areas to keep citizens in Asheville safe after the snow. Story by Barret Bryson  Image from WLOS.com On Aug. 23rd after more than 30 years of business, Kmart on Patton Avenue, Asheville, North Carolina announced its closing due to Sears chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. As you may know, Kmart is owned by Sears so it impacts them too. The filing caused the closing of 142 of their “worst-performing” stores as an attempt to stabilize their finances this year, according to The Asheville Citizen-Times. Leaving only 687 Sears and Kmart stores remaining. Due to the losses that Sears is suffering from, it also closed its Sears store in the Asheville Mall on July 2018 and the Kmart store on Tunnel Road on January 2019.
Now Kmart is coming out with sales of up to 30% off everything and other sales as well, and will attempt to sell after closing down. Why Is Sears Bankrupt? Sears CEO Edward S. Lampert is losing money fast. After Sears “spent $5.8 billion buying back shares from 2005 to 2010,” according to Business Insider. Not only that, but Edward also blamed the decline on “shifts in consumer spending to the rise of e-commerce, and even — at times — the weather", according to Business Insider. After 1969, which was Sears peak, Kmart had a huge impact from online shopping. Causing their sales to drop and a downfall in the past 50 years. Kmart and Sears are not the only stores that got hit by online retailing, Toys- R-Us is an outcome of what online shopping can cause. Because of online shopping, fewer parents shopped at stores and instead they started buying off of Amazon or Ebay, which is more convenient for them. Causing Toys-R -Us to also have a downfall. That applies to Sears and other stores too. New Developments According to City-Data, a Publix store will open as a replacement for Kmart. It will be a good addition to the community as a replacement for Kmart. Since that Kmart wasn't as good according to a comment on City-Data. Explaining how there was poor customer service and the store had an “old smell." Overall, Kmart will be missed and e-commerce will continue its path, impacting large businesses such as Sears and Toys-R-Us. Hopefully, with a new Publix, we can see new things coming our way in Asheville. Story by Doni Palma-Roberto  Carl Mumpower On March 9th, 2018 the Citizen Times published a story about Carl Mumpower and his views on the amount of liberal indoctrination in Asheville City Schools.
As a student at Asheville Middle School, I can give a first hand account of the type of education that is provided. Based on experience, the teachers and administrators do not push their beliefs onto us students. They did not pressure us to or to not participate in Thursday's walk out, just as they did not pressure us to participate in the women's march. I feel that the fact that Mumpower is accusing the teachers of forcing their beliefs is simply not backed up by anything except a guest speaker. I am referring to the guest speaker he mentioned in his article, Asheville High School invited a guest speaker in to talk to a group of art students, this person was transgender. This is how Carl Mumpower is saying that the teachers forcing liberalism on the students. Aside from this, Carl Mumpower is a Psychologist. It seems that his work is controversial, one review on google reads “Dr. Mumpower has been amazing. He has such great insight and I also am grateful he and I share many of the same views... That brings comfort to me with his counsel.” While another reads “Carl is very arrogant and condescending. He also forces his political beliefs on everyone he interacts with. When those political beliefs involve racism as well as transphobic and homophobic tendencies, that crosses the line. He is a mediocre psychologist at best (kindly stated) and disinterested in psychology in general; he longs to hold political office again but cannot win any elections. I wonder why? He regards his patients as mentally inferior which is interesting coming from someone who graduated from the Union Institute and University (not exactly Harvard University!). If it were possible to give 0 stars, I would!” Based on these reviews it seems that people who share the same beliefs are very supportive, while people who do not are very clear that they were not benefited from seeing him as a psychologist. I do not think Mumpower is qualified to make the statement he did. He has no right to blame Asheville City Schools for his transphobic beliefs. In the future Asheville City Schools staff will continue to separate their political beliefs with their teaching. Story by Olive Donochod Sources- https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2018/03/09/mumpower-gop-try-counter-liberal-indoctrination-city-schools/410817002/ https://mountainx.com/news/community-news/091008so_you_think_you_know_mumpower/ https://www.google.com/search?q=carl+mumpower&rlz=1CALEAE_enUS762US762&oq=carl+mum&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i57j0l4.4329j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&ssui=on#lrd=0x8859f4bc975655a3:0x6e8f0e2cfeb28b6c,1 |
