Cash Unchained lights its own fire
Gym’s video sparks controversy
See REVIEW Pg. B1
— See STORY, Pg. A2
Glenn Miller Band pays loving tribute to an era — See REVIEW, Pg. B1
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February 2018 Vol. 14, No. 3
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Confederate monuments opposed by panelists at UNCA
By JOHN NORTH
john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
A panel addressed the topic of “Confederate Monuments and Their Future” — and was unanimous in its opposition — during a 90-minute panel discussion on Jan. 26 at UNC Asheville’s Reuter Center. The event drew a capacity turnout of more than 250 people, with a number of
people being turned away to abide by fire marshall safety concerns. The event was free and everyone was welcome. Only a handful of African-Americans were scattered through the audience. The panel discussion was moderated by Darin Waters, an assistant professor of history at UNCA. He also is a special assistant to the chancellor for community outreach and engagement
The four panelists included Deborah Miles, director of UNCA’s Center for Diversity Education; Sasha Mitchell, chair of the African-American Heritage Commission for Asheville and Buncombe County and creator-editor of The Color of Asheville; Sheneika Smith, newly elected member of Asheville City Council and founder of Date My City; and Dan Pierce, professor of history and NEH Distinguished Professor at
Fashions of ‘The Titanic’ exhibition opens
Photo courtesy of Biltmore Co.
©1997 special photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox
Costumes from the Oscarwinning film will star in the first large-scale exhibition inside America’s largest home. when Asheville’s Biltmore Estate launches “Glamour on Board: Fashion from Titanic the Movie.” Opening Feb. 9, the exhibition of fashions features hats, gowns, jewelry and tuxedos worn by Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kathy Bates and others filling the grand rooms once lived in by George and Edith Vanderbilt. With these garments, Biltmore’s guests will have what are billed as perfect examples of the luxurious wardrobes favored by transatlantic travelers like the Vanderbilts in the early 1900s. The exhibition will run through May 13.
Opioid crisis in Buncombe termed severe By JOHN NORTH
The alarming state of Buncombe County’s opioid abuse and the steps to address it was discussed by County Commissioner Ellen Frost at the Jan. 12 meeting of the Council of Independent Business Owners at UNCA’s Sherrill Center. About 50 people attended the earlymorning breakfast meeting. “Nobody wakes up in the morning and decides to be a heroin addict,” Frost told the CIBO gathering. “What we found is that 86 percent of heroin starts with regular prescriptions. But opiates are different. We know that some
people can be addicted from a three-day prescription — that’s eight pills. “It started in the early ‘80s. Doctors were told by the drugmakers that opiates weren’t addictive,” Frost said. Following intense lobbying by the pharmaceutical companies, Congress “created laws to protect those physicians so if their patients became addicted they could not be sued.” Meanwhile, in Mexico, locals were producing black tar heroin (a black, sticky substance) and “their business model was pizza delivery. … Their aim was to please, so that if people could not get opiates, they had this other prescription for black-tar heroin, Frost said. See OPIOID CRISIS, Page A14
From Staff Reports Train enthusiast Larry Morton continues to advocate for passenger rail between Hendersonville and Asheville, but exactly what that means continues to evolve. Morton has been on a crusade, making presentations to local groups to drum up interest in the idea, and he says to date he has only had positive responses. In order for the prospect to be fisAmy Alkon cally viable, though, it needs a competitive edge. For instance, a commuter Want to know the answer? train could not be run because the track See ADVICE GODDESS, Page A10 proposes to use does not allow passen-
ger cars to travel faster than 30 mph. What’s more, the first run of the day would probably be too late for commuters; and the last one, too early. Morton could not exactly offer scenic tours, either, as the track runs along the backside of commercial buildings for most of the route. In the latest twist, he has unveiled the idea of offering entertainment rides. The car — or cars — could be rolling diners, for example; and maybe even cabarets at night. They could also be event venues for birthdays, weddings and corporate teambuilding, Morton said. See PASSENGER RAIL, Page A2
The burden of ‘poof!’
Q: — Out of the blue, my boyfriend of two years broke up with me. Not long afterward, I saw pix on Facebook of him with some other girl. It’s been two months since our breakup, and he wants to reconcile, so whatever he got into obviously tanked. We were planning on moving in together in the spring. (Maybe he got cold feet?) I still love him, but I’m worried. Did he just break up with me to be with this girl? How do I know this won’t happen again? — Fighting Uncertainty
UNCA and author of numberous books on Southern and Appalachian History. Steven Nash was listed as the fifth panelist, but he did not participate in the discussion. Nash is an associate professor of history at East Tennessee State University and author of “Reconstruction’s Ragged Edge: The Politics of Postwar Life in the Southern Mountains.” See MONUMENTS, Page A12
The Advice Goddess
john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
For AVL-HVL passenger rail to profit, entertainment urged
A2 - February 2018 - Asheville Daily Planet
Following uproar, gym owner Passenger rail apologizes for posting photos of women clients’ posteriors From Staff Reports
FLETCHER — The owner of Blue Ridge CrossFit, Tom Tomlo, apologized for posting pictures focusing on the posteriors of female clients on the gym’s Instagram account on Jan. 12 — a move that triggered hundeds of women expressing their fury via Facebook postings. The video showed a morning workout session at the gym. It featured women in black workout stretch pants, bent over, performing various body-strengthening exercises. Tomlo admitted in a WLOS-TV interview that he had added emojis and phrases next to the women’s posteriors, including the phrase “dayumm” above a woman’s rear-end, “blueridgegirls” over another female member’s posterior, and “humpday” with an emoji over another women bent over, with her rear-end in the air In apologizing, Tomlo said he did not mean to offend anyone or any woman. He told WLOS that the comments and video were meant to be lighthearted and fun. He also said the women in the video knew he was recording them during the workout and knew the video had been posted. WLOS reported that a member who saw the Instagram story posted several screen grabs of the video on Facebook. Upon learning that someone had posted the screen pictures, Tomlo wrote a profanity0laced defense on Facebook, saying the person who did the posting had no right to post the stills he says are taken out of context. Tomlo’s Facebook response is as follows: “I can’t control the way this is being portrayed, and I’m regretful for it,” Tomlo said. “I feel horrible that people would feel that I would look at a woman that way and do something that would be purposefully demeaning of her.”
2nd woman’s march for equality draws 7K
From Staff Reports
The Asheville Police Department estimated 7,000 people participated in the second annual Women’s March on Jan. 20 in downtown Asheville. Organizers claimed about 10,000 people attended, noting that it is difficult to estimate the number of people crowded around corners and down side streets. It was the largest gathering downtown since Mountain Moral Monday in 2013. Nationwide, hundreds of thousands marched in hundreds of cities. Different people marched for different reasons, but a common theme was support for Democrat candidates and policies. The 2017 march had been organized to resist tyrannical tendencies and misogynist rhetoric attributed to the newlyelected president and, by extension, leader of the free world. Issues people were marching for included open borders or at least compassion for keeping families together, health care as provided in the Affordable Care Act, equality for women and the LGBTQIA community, racial justice, protections against domestic violence, state-funded abortion, environmental protection, and voting rights. People in pink hats and T-shirts that read “March ON, 2018 – Asheville, NC” peacefully walked a 1.4-mile course beginning at City Hall and ending at the Vance Memorial, where some drummed and some danced. Slogans like “#MeToo” and “Blue Wave” recurred in discussions. Speakers included North Carolina Senator Terry Van Duyn, who encouraged women and progressives to run for office, encourage like-minded people to run, and get out the vote. Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer said, “I stand before you as a product of the blood, sweat and tears of our foremothers and our foregrandmothers that marched before us to make every aspect of my life a possibility. And because of the women who marched before me, I can stand here as your mayor.” She said people were marching because, “This past year is the first year of my lifetime, and in all of your lifetimes, that women did not take a step forward in their march to equality.” Nikki Harris, representing Planned Parenthood, urged people to focus on issues that unite. There was much to celebrate; for example, “the first openly transgender woman of color winning an election to public office, the first Asian American and the first-ever Latina woman elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, seven cities electing their first black mayors, and, of course, in Alabama, where black women delivered, as they always do!” The police department reported no complaints during the rally. Extra officers had been pulled from traffic duty to patrol the crowd, and the event organizers had hired additional, offduty officers to make sure participants would be safe. A small counterprotest, headed by Meredith Hunt of Life Advocates. also was staged. Life Advocates is a prolife organization — and Planned Parenthood had a strong presence at the event. The T-shirts being sold, as they were last year, raised thousands of dollars for that organization. The counterprotest was also peaceful.
Continued from Page A1 Morton said excitement about the venture ramped up when he started talking about passenger excursions. One man in Jonesborough, Tenn., even offered him “the perfect car,” according to a report in the Hendersonville Lightning. Morton said he has held discussions with five excursion rail providers, one of which was the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad, and all are very popular, doing well financially, and willing to coach Morton in this endeavor. While he visits various civic groups to drum up interest, Morton saidhe has not given much thought to what income and expenses will look like. Darl Faris, general manager of the Blue Ridge Southern Railroad, which now runs the track, told the Lightning that Morton would have to be able to convince the home office he can run his operation at a 30 percent profit before he could start using the tracks. Morton said ideally Blue Ridge Southern
would take over the project. The firm owns the tracks, so a lease agreement would not be necessary. Also, it has a dispatcher and locomotives. Another option would be to buy a parlor car and contract with Blue Ridge Southern to link it to their locomotives. The third option would be to purchase the car and a locomotive as well as rights to use the track. Morton said he does not know how much Blue Ridge Southern would charge for any of this. As of his last Lightning interview, Morton envisioned running excursions in the morning and early afternoon. The route would probably run between Biltmore Village in Asheville and the Historic Seventh Avenue District in Hendersonville. The tracks are only used occasionally during the daytime to bring a load of coal to the Duke Energy Progress plant at Lake Julian. Kimberly Clark is the only other party using the tracks, and its trains use the track only at night.
Asheville Daily Planet — February 2018 - A3
A4 - February 2018 - Asheville Daily Planet
Merrimon Avenue widening plan sparks opposition
From Staff Reports
Members of Asheville City Council added to their agenda at the last minute a discussion of plans the North Carolina Department of Transportation recently unveiled for Merrimon Avenue. Mayor Esther Manheimer, who has lived several years in the area, said she knew the widening was somewhere on the NCDOT’s wish list, but was totally surprised to see the plans rise to the top. At a Jan. 8 public hearing, attended by about 160 people, the NCDOT solicited public input on what Vice Mayor Gwen Wisler described as “very detailed” plans for widening the main thoroughfare, which is also designated US 25. The improvements would address traffic around UNC Asheville by adding a fifth lane, which would be used for making left turns. The new lane would run between W.T. Weaver Boulevard and the Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company. The plans also call for adding a sidewalk on the west side of the road. There has long been public interest in constructing one, but the need for a retaining wall has resulted in
lower-cost projects being prioritized. There will also be a realignment of curb cuts and improvements to sidewalks in need of repair. The DOT expects “at least one” house and “at least one business” would have to move; and part of an apartment building would have to be demolished. The project’s price tag of $2.8 million, does not include costs of engineering and right-of-way acquisition. While construction would not begin until 2019, the DOT is expected to finalize its choice of plans in a few months. While grumblings about the need for a turn lane on Merrimon have been heard for decades, Wisler, who was in attendance at the Jan. 8 meeting with many members of council, said she did not hear any support for the plan from attendees. Manheimer said council had received numerous emails opposing the project as well. Wisler said nobody had solicited input from council or members of the public prior to the unveiling, and the DOT had paid no heed to any of the city’s numerous plans for multimodal transportation. Wisler described the plan as having a large footprint, taking away from neighborhoods,
and “allowing more car action.” The city’s Transportation Director Ken Putnam explained the DOT had extended the deadline, to a date now past, for input; and that the DOT would accept the comments the city would forward them within a few days. Additional actions council wanted to take included directing staff to work with the DOT to make sure the plan aligns with existing city plans. Councilwoman Julie
Mayfield, who noted several other streets are slated for DOT improvements in the near future, said U.S. 25 may be managed by the state, but, “these are our streets.” Council also asked staff to draft a resolution for discussion at council’s next meeting, February 13. Wisler said in addition to expressing disappointment, it should call for new policies and procedures to make sure the DOT never excludes city leadership from its plans again.
$1.6K profit from property sale expected
From Staff Reports
which has passed. Headquartered in Greenville, Deep South is a developer of single-family housing communities that has previously built in South Carolina and Florida. The county acquired the undeveloped Ferry Road property in 2015 following an emergency closed session, but its story goes back to 1995 when Henderson County acquired the parcel as part of the contentious Water Agreement that bred hostilities between Asheville, Buncombe County, and state legislators. Henderson County was supposed to build a sewage treatment facility on the land, and if it failed to do so by 2012, the deed was supposed to revert to Asheville. After two two-year extensions, Henderson County and Asheville entered into an agreement to sell the property, which was then valued at $6,815,000, and split the proceeds 50-50.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to unload the very complicated Ferry Road property and net a profit of $1.6 million from the sale. The 137-acre parcel has been on the market for two years. It recently underwent a rezoning, and the city and county agreed to lift its deed restrictions. The parcel encompasses 137 acres. It is located in Bent Creek, between the French Broad River and Brevard Road, and it is accessed by Ferry Road. While owned by the county, it is located inside the Asheville city limits. Due to steep terrain, only about 80 acres are usable; and while the property is near I-26 and the river, Brevard Road will likely have to be widened to accommodate any project worth the purchase price. The commissioners agreed to accept an offer of $5 million with 5 percent down from Deep River South Development II, LLC and principal Scott Gillespie. In accordance Jeans, books, jumble items with law, the offer was subject 423-2400 to a 10-day upset bid process,
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Asheville Daily Planet — February 2018 - A5
Hoteliers to raze downtown building; council to fight it From Staff Reports
Parks Hospitality Group has applied for a demolition permit for the former Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office on Haywood Street in downtown Asheville. In turn, city leadership has responded with a request for a stay on the courtordered issuance of PHG’s conditional use permit until Asheville’s appeal of that order has its day in court. It could be a year before the case is heard in the state Court of Appeals, and
PHG President Shaunak Patel said that translates to $4 million in construction losses for his company and unrealized revenue from the city’s tax base. Last January, having passed the lower levels of the city’s design review process, PHG came before council with plans for a classy and glassy gateway to Asheville’s central business district. They described an eight-story Embassy Suites hotel with a pool, rooftop bar, copious meeting space within walking distance to the US Cellular Center, and a 200-car garage.
But members of council unanimously denied their request. In part, they were representing a constituency very vocally opposed to hotel proliferation downtown. If council were to grant the permit, the applicant was going to have to pony up a million dollars to construct 60 public parking spaces and donate another $250,000 to the city’s housing trust fund. The idea of getting hotel developers to contribute to the city’s strategic goals, through things like paying all employees living wages or investing in local art, began
in-force when former Councilor Gordon Smith negotiated what he later termed “the McKibbon Standard” with hotelier John McKibbon. PHG had applied for a conditional use permit, a product no longer offered by the city. Approval for the permit was to be granted if seven vague criteria were met. Developers had to, for example, not pose a threat to public health and safety, and their building had to conform to existing architecture in the area. Mutually agreed-upon terms could also be contracted through a CUP.
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A6 - February 2018 - Asheville Daily Planet
County given clean audit despite probe From Staff Reports
Buncombe County, while in the midst of a federal investigation concerning fraud allegedly perpetrated by a former county manager, received a clean audit in late January. County CFO Tim Flora took it upon himself to explain that, due to the ongoing investigation, he could only speak in general terms, noting even the county Board of Commissioners likely did not know some of the details. Commissioner Al Whitesides led off the public conversation with compliments to county personnel for making changes. The list of improvements included many interruptions of the monopolistic controls the former county manager had imposed to limit scrutiny of her actions. Others made it safe for whistleblowers to report suspicious activity without fear of retribution. From remarks from the county’s internal audit committee, on which he serves, Whitesides read, “The most effective internal controls over county assets become much less so in an environment that affords senior management extremely broad powers over financial resources and personnel. In addition, the effectiveness of the internal audit function in prior years was limited, given the internal auditor reported to senior management for all practical purposes. From this broader perspective, the Audit Committee believes that internal controls were weak during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017 and likely in preceding fiscal years in which these conditions were the rule.” Next, Flora explained there is a perception that members of the public expect routine annual audits to detect fraud, when they only check internal controls to make sure they align with standards and protocols for fraud prevention. Secondly, Flora said it was the county’s strong internal controls that allowed suspicious activities to be detected. The federal investigation now underway will include forensic auditing. While, as Flora said, “a single tax dollar used wrongly is a material event and a betrayal of public trust;” from an auditing stand-
point, the amounts involved in inappropriate expenditures were not enough to change the county’s financial position. All questionable transactions were recorded in the county’s books, and while the purpose may have been unacceptable, the money is all accounted-for. Flora continued, “Before, we had protocols in place to prevent and detect wrongdoing. However, we let someone in power and position take advantage of those systems. We also operated in an environment where discovering these exploits was made difficult and making changes to any of the weaknesses incredibly hard.” While prevention had failed, detection remained strong. Flora gave a summary that began in 2016, when, “there were some peculiar decisions and directions provided by the former county manager that came across as odd; nothing concrete, mind you, just things that made me scratch my head and wonder what’s going on.” Then, in 2017, “there were some questionable actions by the county manager that raised some red flags for finance staff. Not much detail can be provided at this time.” Flora said this led to a beefing up of scrutiny, and in the summer of 2017, routine reviews detected, “a series of irregularities tied to the former county manager.” And that triggered an internal review. The county’s internal auditor and human resources director were alerted, and the next weekend, the issues were documented and reported to the county’s senior attorney. The attorney, suspecting a “potential breach,” alerted the proper authorities, which included the Local Government Commission, the state treasurer, the state auditor, and the county’s external auditor Gould Killian CPA Group. Representatives from the county’s Human Resources, Information Technology, and Finance departments began restricting the former manager’s access to systems and facilities. They also began preserving evidence, and the county manager resigned. Gould Killian then worked with staff to assess the damage and construct better checks and balances. Flora concluded, “These events speak loudly to our past failures at transparency
$45 mixed-used development (with housing) planned at Asheville Mall From Staff Reports
It seemed unthinkable, but the Asheville Mall is stepping into the new economy. As Amazon eats its way into market share formerly owned by brick-and-mortar establishments, Kmart and Sears continue to announce store closings. What is replacing them, is integrated, self-contained development that attempts to cultivate communities where people can walk to work and other amenities. So, it should come as no surprise that Seritage Growth Properties of New York has proposed demolishing Sears at the Asheville Mall to make way for a “more complete urban experience” to accommodate modern lifestyles. The developers pitched the concept as replacing automobile-oriented retail with placemaking. In more concrete terms, the plans call for four commercial buildings accommodating restaurants, retail, and a 10-screen movie
theater; a six-story, a 204-unit apartment building; and a parking structure. There is a chance a smaller Sears store will be among the retail tenants. The existing automotive center will remain, but it will be used for other purposes. Plans for the $45 million mixed-use development were submitted for the City of Asheville’s design review process in December, and they’re scheduled to go before the Technical Review Committee on Feb. 5. Running into no barriers, the plans would proceed to the Planning and Zoning Commission March 7 and go before city council for final approval in late March or early April. About 20 neighbors showed up to a neighborhood meeting, where interest and support ran high. Concerns were also raised, as was to be expected, about noise, light trespass, traffic patterns, building height, and public safety.
and accountability. Things were approved. Authority was granted. It was clear messages got muddled, intent obfuscated. As department heads, we let ourselves be put in silos. We trusted when we should have questioned. And when we did question, we let ourselves be convinced. “We have all been let down. We have been misled. We thought we were better than this. We know we are better than this. Public trust has been compromised. We cannot let these actions define us, nor interfere with the tremendous work otherwise done by county staff.” Ed Towson, representing Gould Killian, said the county had suffered “override of internal control.” That is, while everything was good on paper, people were not obeying the rules.
Towson indicated it appeared the former manager was not acting alone. He explained in situations of collusion, the underlings are either in over their heads and acting out of absolute trust, or they’re afraid to challenge authority. Towson added no amount of policies and procedures will make people follow those policies and procedures if they are disinclined to do so. What’s more, Towson said what was needed was to change the “tone at the top.” New leadership had to “make sure that every person in the system – every employee, every person in finance – realizes that they have a duty and responsibility to report anything they think is inappropriate, or question it, and to make sure there’s education in that area.”
Asheville Daily Planet - February 2018 - A7
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The Daily Planet’s Opinion
Passenger train between AVL and HVL? A great idea
W
e heartily encourage Hendersonville train enthusiast Larry Morton — and his supporters — in his efforts to promote the bold idea of launching passenger rail service between the Hendersonville depot on Seventh Avenue and Asheville’s depot in Biltmore Village. A couple of months ago, Morton unveiled his idea before a gathering of Henderson County movers-and-shakers and he did the same thing in Asheville in January in front of Asheville and Buncombe County leaders. We think Morton is a visionary and he seems to have quite a bit of business sense. A major drawback to his plan for the short-line operation is that it would not be feasible to run as a regular commuter train because the available track limits passenger rail cars to travel no faster than 30 mph. Also, the first run of the day would be too late for commuters, and the last one, too early, because of limitations that give priority to regularly scheduled freight trains. In his latest brainstorm, Morton is proposing that entertainment be offered, along with the rides. For instance, a train car (or cars) could serve as a rolling diner. (We think a “drinking” car, stocked with craft beers, could be a winner, too.) At night, the train could offer a cabaret on wheels, where bands and comedians perform. The service, if approved, would be run by a commercial short-line railroad firm — and we encourage local officials to throw their support behind this novel idea.
We need another monument CHAPEL HILL — Maybe, instead of taking down monuments to our past, we should be building new ones. No, I am not suggesting that we fill the courthouse squares with more images of Confederate soldiers. However, I acknowledge that when I was growing up, those statues reinforced my admiration for the heroes who fought so bravely for the southern cause. I am thinking of a need for different monuments to remind us that we cannot run from our history or pretend that it does not exist, monuments that make us better for the future by showing mistakes of our predecessors, especially the horrible ones we wish had not existed. Recent news reports reminded us that Germans and American southerners have something in common. Germans’ forebears, like ours, fought a brutal war against the United States of America. And they, like our Confederate forebears, lost. Our forebears share something else, something other than the burden of losing a war. The societies they fought so hard to defend were racist, brutal, and, at least in today’s world, utterly indefensible. Both peoples must wrestle with controversies over monuments that their losing forebears erected to shape and preserve memories of the lost wars and the societies their soldiers fought and died to defend. The large majority of monuments in the southern United States feature positive images of Confederate soldiers or leaders rather than dealing with the institution they fought to protect. But the major German monument, Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial is located prominently near the Brandenburg Gate. “The Lonely Planet Guide to Western Europe” advises that “this football-fieldsized memorial by American architect Peter Eisenman consists of 2,711 sarcophagilike concrete columns rising in sombre silence from undulating ground.” This large, prominent complex in the center of the German capital forces all Germans to remember this horrible part of their history and culture. Remembering might be an important step in insuring that nothing like the Holocaust happens again. Not all Germans agree. Right-wing political leader Björn Höcke complains that Germans are “the only people in the world to plant a monument of shame in the heart
D.G. Martin of their capital.” He questions Germany’s acceptance of responsibility for the Holocaust and the war. He calls on Germans to make a 180-degree turn in the way they look at their history. But, according to a story by Katrin Bennhold on Dec. 25 in The New York Times, “one recent Wednesday morning, Höcke woke up in his rural home to find the Holocaust memorial outside his bedroom window: 24 rectangular concrete slabs, one section of the original monument, rebuilt to scale on the property immediately neighboring his.” According the CNN, the new construction was “to protest his call for Germany to stop feeling guilty about Nazi atrocities.” We have a few monuments to the Civil Rights movement and its heroes. South Carolina has a monument on its capitol grounds that includes a few panels on the slave experience. UNC-Chapel Hill has a small memorial that honors men and women of color--enslaved and free. But we have nothing as dramatic as the Berlin Holocaust Memorial to do the ugly task of reminding us of our collective guilt. To do that job, our memorial would show dramatically the break-up of families so poignantly described by Heather Williams in her book “Help Me to Find My People,” the brutal beating of escaped slaves shown by John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger in their book “Runaway Slaves,” and the horror of the marching in chains and standing naked in the slave market portrayed by Nancy Peacock in her novel “The Life & Times of Persimmon Wilson.” It would be painful, but we need, just as much as the Germans, a memorial to this shameful part of our past, something to help us be sure nothing like it ever happens again. • D.G. Martin hosts “North Carolina Bookwatch,” which airs at noon Sundays and at 5 p.m. Thursdays on UNC-TV.
Letters to the Editor
Audit panel chief clarifies internal control comments
I
wanted to take the opportunity to clarify the comments as reported in the January 2018 article regarding my response to Mr. (Mac) Swicegood’s question “How far are you going back to balance the checkbook?” My intention was to imply that many effective internal controls were in place, but even the best controls become ineffective when senior management is delegated broad authority over financial resources and personnel. The commissioners and county manager (Mandy) Stone have moved quickly to address this shortcoming in the internal control environment. The completion of the ongoing criminal investigation will hopefully help the citizens of Buncombe County move forward in a healthy fashion. Larry B Harris Chairman, Buncombe County Audit Committee. CPA, CFP, ParsecFinancial Asheville
Audit panel chief clarifies internal control comments My boyhood hero, Robert Kennedy, used to say that “Jobs are better than welfare.” As a liberal/progressive Democrat, I agree. But I would add that having a job that pays a good and living wage that is well above the federal government’s “official poverty line” is the human right of every American who is willing to lead a responsible and productive life. Therefore, I am proposing that follow-
ing the November 2018 elections — our president and Congress reverse the 2017 tax cuts and instead spend $1 trillion on a federal government jobs-creation bill that guarantees a job with dignity and respect to all Americans that not only pays well above the official poverty line, but which also pays well above the “near-poverty line” (which is 100 percent to 125 percent of the official poverty line). It is the “humane” and “just” thing to do. Stewart Epstein Rochester, N.Y
Sheep on right/goats on left: all should oppose abortions
America needs to bow our heads in shame and repent, before God Almighty sends His wrath upon us. Congress needs to recognize and invoke God’s Supreme Laws instead of passing laws which go against them. Same goes for the Supreme Court and the president. The White House should not be applauding the House of Representatives for passing H.R. 36, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. Accepting the murder of 98.7 percent of humans aborted, as a first step, to reducing the mass murder of innocent unborn human beings, is nothing to be proud of. Protecting the innocent unborn must be a 100 percent goal, because we must obey God. According to God’s Word, we humans, are to live by every word which came out of his mouth. Including when God said, “Thou shall not kill,” and he was referring to the innocent, not the murderers. See LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, Page A9
The Candid Conservative
Are you a useful idiot?
“A lie told often enough becomes the truth.” — Vladimir Lenin
The problem
T
hough routinely cited, Marxist despot Vladimir Lenin never used the term “useful idiots.” He didn’t have to. His actions clearly affirmed that chunk of his narcissistic vision. Like all communists, Lenin understood that achieving the rarified atmosphere of the elite required one to convert the masses into mountains. Per his bloody wake, how many lived or died in the process was of no concern. American community organizer Saul Alinsky was also a Marxist – and no one has done more to insert his mentor’s thinking into 21st century America. That success can be tracked to an everexpanding number of useful people – some of whom live right here in Asheville.
Clinton, Obama and you?
If the term “useful idiots” conjures up images of not-so-bright order takers stumbling around at their master’s bidding, your political savvy button needs an upgrade. Yes, we tend to think of the little man as political cannon fodder and certainly “the masses” most typically references those in lower socio-economic realities. What’s lacking in creativity, smarts and power, can be found in numbers and enthusiasm. That’s useful. But it remains that the bright and accomplished – like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama – are the most useful.
Carl Mumpower That Hillary and Barack were Alinsky acolytes is easily affirmed. Both purposefully studied or were otherwise exposed to his methods. Hillary focused her senior thesis on analyzing Alinsky’s thinking. According to Alinsky biographer Sanford Horwitt, U.S. President Barack Obama was heavily influenced by the gentleman and followed in his footsteps as a Chicago-based community organizer. Horwitt further asserted that Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign echoed Alinsky’s teachings. But the exclamation point comes in this dynamic duo’s duplication of his model. Alinsky’s 1971 work “Rule for Radicals” is the best source for understanding this gentleman’s mission and methods. In that text he offers list of 13 “power tactics” that can be boiled down to the following: Act bigger than you are; paralyze and exhaust the opposition with relentless attacks-pressure-rules-ridicule, highlight your positives and hide your negatives as you highlight their negatives and hide their positives; and make radicalism fun and attractive while you paint tradition as tired and ugly. Sound familiar? You can watch a rerun every time Hillary or Barrack speak in public. For affirmation of local usefulness, note the dominating footprint of left-minded letters-to-theeditor in most of our community’s publications. See CANDID CONSERVATIVE, Page A10
Asheville Daily Planet — February 2018 - A9
Commentary
In dream, Madison warns of Trump threat
T
he James Madison who met me in Barley’s did not appear as the great man of history. He was more a character from Charles Dickens. Old now, his long, stringy, grey hair thankfully distracted from his pinched, ax-blade face. His clothes, clearly an effort at 21st century, looked like he’d slept in them for 200 years. I rose to shake his hand, and he began speaking immediately: “You’re not my first choice, Mr. Ballard. I contacted The New York Times, but they thought me an eccentric. I’m told your readership is smaller but similar to theirs and equally as astute and decisive to America’s future.” I nodded. It’s true. Madison continued: “In 1787, I published words that have come to be prophetic.” He produced a yellowed document and fixed his spectacles in place. “Federalist Number 10,” he said and cleared his throat. ‘The hope is that [those elected by the people] will be a refined segment of society that will be patriotic and just, chosen due to their virtues. Thus, they will be less likely to sacrifice the public good to their own
Lee Ballard interests.’” He raised a bony finger and continued with emphasis: “But, on the other hand, the reverse could happen. People of sinister designs might wangle their way into office.” I gave a soft whistle. He looked up at me. I knew exactly why he had come. “You are living in a crisis time for our Republic,” he said. “Trump,” I said, not as a question. Madison nodded once. “In our discussions around the Constitution, we feared precisely this kind of man. Some naysayers quoted Alexander Tyler that ‘democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government.’ We persevered.” Then Madison noticeably tensed. “Our fears were realized at the end of my life,” he said, his eyes glowing like Christopher Lloyd’s in “Back to the Future.” “Andrew Jackson,” I said, not as a ques-
Letters to the editor Continued from Page A8 Those who take money to perform abortions are cursed by God (Read Deuteronomy 27:25). God’s Word tells us Christ will come to Jerusalem, and that his angels will put the sheep on his right, and the goats on the left. To the sheep on the right, He will say, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom.” To the goats on the left, Christ will say, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Without repentance and obedience to God, it’s the everlasting fire. Manuel Ybarra Jr. Coalgate, Okla.
‘Pretty, perky’ Peggy King praised at 88 as vocalist Wishing “Pretty, Perky” Peggy King a very “Happy 88th Birthday” on Friday, Feb. 16. Born in Greensburg, PA, Ms. King is a
LETTERS The Asheville Daily Planet invites Letters to the Editor of 200 words or less. Please include your name, mailing address, daytime telephone number and e-mail address. For more information, call (828) 252-6565. Send mail to: Letters, Asheville Daily Planet P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, NC 28814 Send e-mail to: letters@ashevilledailyplanet.com
veteran of the Big Band era — she sang with the Charlie Spivak, Ralph Flanagan, Percy Faith and Ray Anthony orchestras) radio (“Dragnet”), TV (featured singer on the George Gobel TV show in the 1950s) Peggy King — in and films (“Abbott & Costello Meet The her youth Mummy,” “The Bad and the Beautiful” and “Zero Hour!” She’s still quite active performing with the All-Star Jazz Trio in venues in and around the Philadelphia area. In my book, this talented lady is a real “National Treasure!” Herb StarK Mooresville
Photo exhibit encouraging activism to debut Feb. 16 On Friday, Feb. 16, beginning Presi-
tion. “Yes,” he hissed. “I was 80 years old. I lived to see it. The new generation scoffed at all we had built. That arrogant oaf! He disdained the judiciary on the matter of Indian removal to the West, even jesting, ‘John Marshall made his decision; now let him enforce it.’” After a moment, Madison continued: “After the War [of 1812], I did indeed advocate a stronger executive and a stronger military. Jackson dined in my home. I saw him as an ally. He was a snake, a blackguard!” After a long pause, I said, “It was easy, wasn’t it, Mr. President? Jackson simply refused to enforce the court’s decision. Congress feared his popularity. Your checks and balances failed.” Madison said, “I remember the cartoon of Jackson wearing a king’s crown, trampling the Constitution. Yes, Jackson was forthright. He was above the Constitution. He was hot-tempered. He held grudges forever. He believed himself infallible. He allowed no dissenting opinions. The man we feared was in office!” His eyes darted from 1830 to 2018 in a flash and took on wry humor for the only
time in our conversation. “Remind you of anyone, Mr. Ballard?” I smiled. The answer was obvious. Trump was the reason for his visit. “The Republic survived Jackson,” he said. “Can it survive Trump?” His eyes fixed mine with great intensity. He expected an answer, and yet he knew the answer. The man obviously follows the news of the day. “Can we?” I began. “Yes, we can. But will we?” Madison nodded. “Checks and balances are there, still in your Constitution, Mr. President. But there they sit. Trump is taking over federal law enforcement and prosecutors. He snorts disdain at the judiciary. He threatens the press. Congress cringes in fear of his followers.Who knows what the conservatie Supreme Court will do. But if Democrats retake Congress this year….” Madison put a hand on my shoulder: “Then you must write, Ballard! Write! And all your literate comrades! Rouse the people from their indifference!” • Lee Ballard, who lives in Mars Hill, writes a blog at mountainsnail.com.
dent’s Weekend, The CDC 7 Photo Project Hashtag Project. opens at The Block Off Biltmore, and other Give voice to change — please get locations around Asheville, focusing on the involved! seven words that the Department of Health Carmen Ybarra and Human Services has recently instructed Craftsperson of Positive Change the Center for Disease Control to avoid More Than A Hashtag Project using. Weaverville “Vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based” make up the series of TO REPORT AN ERROR portraits highlighting subjects affected by the silencing of these words and offering The Asheville Daily Planet strives to be aceach subject an intimate opportunity to give curate in all articles published. Contact the voice to this frightening Orwellian-style of News Department at news@ashevilledailycensorship. planet.com, (828) 252-6565, or P.O. Box Encouraging action, the exhibit pairs 8490, Asheville, N.C. 28814-8490. the images with local nonprofits working to preserve and protect our basic rights to Free Speech, Reproductive Health, Equality for All, Academic Freedom and more. Windows and doors • Handman services • Affordable For information, contact morethanahashtagproject@ √ 75 years of experience gmail.com or find us on Facebook at More Than A
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A10 — February 2018 - Asheville Daily Planet
Advice Goddess
Continued from Page A1 A: We crave certainty, and we get freaked out by uncertainty. If we weren’t like this, there would be no horror movies, because somebody would say, “Whoa…I hear this weird, unearthly growling in the basement,” and their friend would say, “Yeah, whatever” and keep playing chess, and the monster would cry itself to sleep off camera. Interestingly, there are some lessons for dealing with potential romantic horror from actual horror fare. Evolutionary researcher Mathias Clasen, author of “Why Horror Seduces,” believes that one reason we appreciate horror movies is that they allow us to have an intense scary experience under safe circumstances — basically acting as a sort of mental training to help us protect ourselves in dire situations. For example, from a list of horror movie survival tips at the website Slasher Mania: “As a general rule, don’t solve puzzles that open portals to Hell.” Because horror movies are “evolutionarily novel” — meaning they didn’t exist in the ancestral environment that shaped the psychology still driving us today — our brains tend to respond to fictional slasher/ zombie/demon stuff as if it were real. So, upon entering a tall building, I occasionally flash on a helpful life lesson I picked up from “The Shining”: If the elevator opens and a flood of blood comes out, take the stairs. Research by Clasen and his colleagues (presented at a 2017 academic conference I attended, but not yet published) appears to give preliminary support to his horror-movies-as-life-prep hypothesis. There is also
published research showing benefits from what I’d call “preparative worrying.” For example, social psychologist Kate Sweeny found that law students who worried more about taking their bar exam felt much better about their results — whether they passed or tanked the thing — compared with those who didn’t fret or didn’t fret much. Sweeny notes that findings from her research and others’ support two benefits of worry. Worry amps up motivation — spotlighting “the importance of taking action” to head off some undesirable outcome. Worry also leads people “to engage in proactive coping efforts” —- providing an emotional airbag should things go badly. As for your situation, sadly, Apple and Amazon have been remiss in giving Siri and Alexa a crystal ball feature, so there’s no way to know for sure whether this guy would just end up bouncing again. But there is a helpful way to “worry” about a possible future with him, and it’s to do it like a scientist, estimating “probabilities” — what seems likely to happen based on prior experience and information. To do that, ask yourself some questions: Is he generally a person who feels an obligation to be careful with other people’s feelings? How in touch is he with his own? Is he easily bored and does he have a big lust for novelty and excitement (called being “high in sensation-seeking” by psychologists)? Next, factor in your own temperament — how emotionally fragile or resilient you are. Practically speaking, the question to ask yourself: “If he left again, how crushing would that be for me?” However, in answering that, it’s important to get specific about the actual worst-case scenario; for
Candid Conservative Continued from Page A8 Taking the summation above, you’ll note that Alinsky’s power tactics predictably frame about 90 percent of those submissions. Here’s the real kicker – it’s clear most of the participants are excited about their usefulness.
What was Alinsky’s end game?
Alinsky died in 1972. As regards his departure, I like the thinking of WNC native Moms Mabley – “My Mama told me to never say anything bad about the dead. Well OK. He’s dead. Good.” Unfortunately, his footprints linger in America – just about everywhere. Alinsky is a background co-producer for most TV stations. He edits our newspapers and administers our public schools. A dysfunctional social safety net is dominated by people who think like Alinsky and America’s universities are almost universally Alinsky propaganda outlets staffed by Alinsky followers. Why are so many people usefully foolish? That’s easy – it’s cool to be an “A-man” for the same reason it’s fun to have unprotected sex, drink and drive, skip church, spend money you don’t have or bully an inferior. Up front, Alinsky’s approach offers all the joy and none of the hardship. He’s selling a journey, not a destination. Alinsky’s myopic and disguised agenda was to destroy America’s traditional success equation. Like all of Marx’s anarchistic followers, his follow-up plan was a wobbly construction of platitudes, assumptions and naive promises – none with a track record of success. As with most addicts, for Alinsky it was keeping the high that mattered – not the consequence. His end game, and thus ours if we who know better stand on the sidelines, is death and destruction.
Alinsky’s A-Game?
Affirmation of the A-Man’s success surround us. Track the long-standing Marxist roots of Antifa. Listen to entertainers turned political experts threatening harm to conservative leaders with fists, clubs, bombs, knives and guns. Witness tenured college professors, elected officials
example: “I’d spend four months deforesting the Pacific Northwest by binge-weeping into Kleenex.” This might be a price you’re willing to pay for a shot at being with the man you love, especially if you hate trees. Ultimately, as psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer, who studies decision-making, writes: “Understand that there is no certainty and no zero-risk, but only risks that are more or less acceptable.” If you conclude that you can accept the potential downsides of trying again with him, consider that his aborted jaunt off into Otherwomanland may have been a good thing. Sometimes it takes a wrong turn to point us in the right direction. Or, putting that another way, perhaps through your boyfriend’s going for what he thought he wanted, he figured out what he really wants. To avoid being resentful over this little detour of his, maybe use the experience as a reminder to appreciate what you have as long as you have it. As we’ve seen, there are no guarantees in life — not even that the government has safeguards on the missile strike warning system stronger than your grandma’s AOL password. (Hi, Hawaii —- glad you’re still with us!)
Kinking outside the box
My wife and I have our differences in bed. Let’s say that I like A and she likes B. So we alternate — A one time and B the next — meaning we’re each only satisfied half the time. Is this a smart compromise? — Curious Relationships do take compromise — especially when one of you’s in the mood for foreplay with whipped cream and strawberries and then a glance at the calendar reveals: “Oh, crap. It’s Medieval Torture
and clergy endorsing laying hands and weaponry on members of congress, conservative speakers and Trump supporters. When, in our darkest days have we seen so many people devoted to the willful destruction of so many other Americans? The Civil War was a battle between armies. Alinsky’s war is a battle between people – and it has potential to be far worse. A reincarnated Lenin would remember – and smile at the fact most Americans don’t believe it can happen here.
Plan B
Alinsky acolytes comes in two flavors – naïve and hooked. Both reveal themselves with one affirming credential – intractable intolerance of other people’s views. Any thinking that requires violence and fanaticism to sustain itself is not thinking and it is not sustainable. The second group – similar to opiate enthusiasts – will find rehabilitation an unattractive alternative to the stimulations of their passion. Most will burn-out on the anger, extremism, and irrationality they have learned to unleash but not restrain. The naïve have a chance. If you’re still one of those who comes to attention when someone says the word “progressive,” it’s never too late to rethink your place amidst those hollow ranks of conformity. We live in a hard world and no system is perfect. We can always improve America’s traditional success equation (Liberty+Opportunity+Responsibility=Prosperity), but not with Alinskyisms. What he offers is not the steady earned success of hard work – but the empty promises of a fantasy vision. Alinsky knew how to make things different. He hadn’t a clue about how to make it better. There is no argument that in a hard world we all need to be useful. People like Marx, Lenin, Alinsky and other social predators were and are ruthless and relentless in misusing those good intentions to dark purposes. Please do be useful. We need you. We need each other. We do not need more of Mr. Alinsky. • Carl Mumpower, a psychologist and former elected official, is chairman of the Buncombe County Republican Party. He can be reached at drmumpower@aol. com.
Device Monday.” As for whether your sex compromise is “smart,” it depends. Research by social psychologist Shelly Gable finds that in a relationship, you can do the exact same activity on your partner’s behalf — say, picking up their thumbscrews from the welder — and have it be good or bad for the relationship, depending on your motivation. Couples in Gable’s studies were happiest when partners’ efforts for each other were driven by “approach” rather than “avoidance” goals. “Approach” involves moving in a positive direction, making an effort for positive reasons — such as barking like a gibbon in bed because you love your partner and want them to be happy. “Avoidance” involves doing it to prevent rejection or conflict (like being exiled to the couch for three days). An “approach” approach to sex, especially, appears to pay off. Social psychologist Amy Muise found that partners who took pleasure in giving their partner sexual pleasure “felt more satisfied and committed both at the … time and three weeks later.” The message in all of this? A smart sex compromise runs on enthusiasm for rocking each other’s world in bed — even if the thing your partner’s into plays for you like “How ‘bout we sneak out to my car for a quick endoscopy?” • (c.) 2018, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or e-mail AdviceAmy@aol. com (advicegoddess.com). Weekly radio show: blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon
Faith Notes Send us your faith notes
Please submit items to the Faith Notes by noon on the third Wednesday of each month, via email, at spirituality@ashevilledailyplanet.com, or fax to 252-6567, or mail c/o The Daily Planet, P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 28814-8490. Submissions will be accepted and printed at the discretion of the editor, space permitting. To place an ad for a faith event, call 252-6565.
Thursday, Feb. 1
WOMEN’S MINDFULNESS SERIES, 6:30-8 p.m., Jubilee! Community Church, 46 Wall St., downtown Asheville. The Women’s Mindfulness Series will feature a program on “Exploring the Myth of Inadequacy.” The four-week series, intended for women to explore mindfulness, is led by Sarah Shoemaker.
Saturday, Feb. 3
“JESUS FOR TODAY” PROGRAM, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Barber Christian Life Center, First United Methodist Church, 204 Sixth Avenue West, Hendersonville. FUMC will host a full-day program, “Jesus for Today,” featuring Bishop William H. Willimon as the speaker. Willimon is a professor of theology at Duke University Divinity School, a retired bishop in the United Methodist Church and author of more than 60 books on Christianity Baylor University identified Willimon as one of Biship William the 12 most effective preachH. Willimon ers in the country. He also will preach at the FUMC services on Feb. 4 at 8:30, 9:15 and 11. For the Feb. 3 program, the fee is $10, including lunch, and will be collected at the door. OPEN HOUSE, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Asheville Shambhala Meditation Center, 60 N. Merrimon Ave., Asheville. The ASMC will hold an open house.
Sunday, Feb. 4
GOSPEL CONCERT, 10:45 a.m., Fletcher First Baptist Church, 5 Cane Creek Road, Fletcher. The Mylon Hayes Family will perform a gospel concert. PARISH HALL CELEBRATION, 3:30 p.m., new parish hall, St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church, Flat Rock. Friends of Music at the church will present a concert, ranging in music from Mozart to “My Fair Lady” to celebrate the
completion of the new parish hall and the donation of a Yamaha grand piano. The program will include Mozart’s “Piano Concerto in A major, K. 414,” played by St. John organist and Director of Music Dewitt Tipton., along with members of the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra. Singing opera arias and the final trio from Gounod’s “Faust” will be Greenville, S.C., professional singers Danielle Knox, soprano. Grant Knox, tenor; and Adrian Smith, bass-baritone. They also will sing excerpts from “My Fair Lady,” joined by the St. John Parish Choir. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted. Cinema II, 5-8 p.m., kitchen, Sandburg Hall, Kitchen, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place, Asheville. Cinema II will be held.
Friday, Feb. 9
GUEST SPEAKER MEETING, 9:30 a.m., Trinity Presbyterian Church, 900 Blythe St., Hendersonville. The public is invited to attend the American Association of University Women’s guest speaker meeting. Diane North will address “Fake News and Critical Thinking: Keys to Understanding the Momentuous Changes in News Reporting.” North, an award-winning adjunct professor at Maryland University College, will describe “frake news” in print and images and demonstrate how to recognize it and do a reverse image search. She will analyze the impact of “fake news” on the media and events. In addition, North will explain helpful strategies for critical thinking, including how to recognize logical, ethical and emotional fallacies within arguments. Admission is free. SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVIE NIGHT, 7-9:30 p.m., Sandford Hall, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place, Asheville. The UUCA will screen its monthly Social Justice Movie Night offering, “Whose Streets.” The film is about the killing of Michael Brown and the subsequent Ferguson uprising. The film premiered at the 2017 Sundance film festival. After the sreening, a discussion will be held. All are welcome and admission is free.
Sunday, Feb. 11
SOUPER BOWL JEWISH HERITAGE TREAT, noon-1:30 p.m., Dave Family Social Hall, Congregation Beth HaTephila, 43 N. Liberty St., Asheville. The synagogue and the Lotte Meyerson Tikkun Olam committee will present the fifth annual CBHT Souper Bowl. All are welcome to attend and sample the diverse menu of dishes from a Jewish heritage. Admission is $9 for adults and $3 for children, with a family maximum of $24. In addition, a cookbook, “Soups of CBHT Souper Bowl,” will be for sale for $8.
Tuesday, Feb. 20
CHURCH SECURITY CLASS, 6-8 p.m., Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, 100 N. Grove St., Hendersonville. The HCSO will hold a church
Asheville Daily Planet — February 2018 - A11
security class during which representatives from each interested organization are asked to reserve spots fo themselves and their attendees. To do so, email to anock@hendersoncountync.org and include one’s name, one’s church/organization name, total number of attendees, contact telephone number and contact email address.
Friday, Feb. 23
FILM SCREENING, 7 p.m., Unity of the Blue Ridge, 2014 Old Fanning Bridge Road, Mills River. The film, “A Great American Tapestry: The Many Strands of Mountain Music,” will be screened. Filmmaker David Weintraub presents a screening of his latest film on the rich cultural history of mountain music, including the ballad singers from Scotland and Ulster, the African-American string-band players, and Cherokee musicians and dancers. A discussion with the filmmaker and principal film participants will follow the screening. For tickets,which are $10, visit https://saveculture. org/product/great-american-tapestry/.
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A12 — February 2018 - Asheville Daily Planet
Monuments
Continued from Page A1 “As 21st century America continues to reconsider monuments, buildings and street names and memorials of all kind in public spaces, in light of contemporary ideas about slavery and racism, OLLI at UNC Asheville will present a discussion about the history and the issues,” UNCA said in a promotion about the event. Following 15 minutes of introductions of the panelists and emcee, Mitchell spoke first, noting, “I’m what you’d call a yankee — coming from New Jersey. “I have many Confederate ancestors and unfortunately some of them were those who enslaved some of my other ancestors. “The Confederate monument movement came after the success of the white supremacist movement of the early 1900s. That movement was seeking to correct or undo the work of the Reconstruction movement following the Civil War. “When people talk about maintaining their heritage, I’d say there are many other people who deserve having their heritage respected,” Mitchell said. “I also learned, as chairman of the African-American Heritage Committee, they don’t want it forgotten. But not only to honor their ancestors, but many of them still cling toward white supremacy. “As far as going forward.... I’ve heard people talk about moving the Vance Monument, which could costs tens of thousands of dollars. I think that same money could be better spent re-contextualizing” by noting “what this country was built upon — particularly the history of white supremacy. — so that people feeling threatened can feel they are still included... So that we all can feel stronger through our diversity. Another panelist, Miles, spoke next, noting that she agreed with much of what Mitchell said. In speaking of her background, Miles said that, “in 1620, … my family fought mostly for the Southern states… I grew up in little Arkansas towns governed mostly by Jim Crow laws. “Every town that I’ve lived in has had Confederate statues.” Miles then reeled off a series of statistics about ways the Confederacy and its heroes are honored in the United States. For instance, she said “there are 109 public schools named after Confederate icons. There are 10 U.S. military bases named for Confederates.” What’s more, she noted that “the countries behind the Iron Curtain had Soviet statues. What did they do with them? They put them in statuary parks... In Berlin, they created a museum called the topography of terror.” Next, Smith said, “I welcome you. A lot of you are sons and daughters of the second Reconstruction —— the period between World War II and the civil rights movement.” She noted that today’s Americans are grappling “with the legacy of white supremacy and the legacy of freedom and justice for all. “So right now, we’re talking a lot about reform, reform, reform. “I don’t count myself as a historian, but as a moral leader ... we can lead generations ahead…. As we try to imagine a UNITED States of America.” The fourth and last panelist to speak, Pierce, said, “I’m one of those people with Southern heritage... It’s important to understand the context of when these things went up... “I’m about as Southern as you can get. I actually was born in the southeast corner of Arkansas in a little place called Lake Village. “I grew up, as you can probably tell from my (grey) hair, when the centennial of the
Civil War was going on. “I got Bruce Catton’s books, with wonderful drawings of Civil War soldiers. “For a historian, I was horribly incurious about my own geneology. That changed about 10 years ago, when someone (a heretofore unknown family member) contacted me. I asked him about our ancestor, John Pierce — if he knew anything about his (war) service. He (Pierce) enlisted in 1863 in the First Tennessee Cavalry. He (his newfound relative) wrote back that he (Pierce) was in every major campaign. At the end I saw him listed as involved ‘in operations in pursuit of (Confederate General) John (Bell) Hood.” As the crowd chuckled, Pierce said, “I asked him... ‘Do you mean to tell me that we’re descended from a Yankee cavalryman?’” To which his relative told Pierce, “‘We don’t talk about that (anti-Confederate activity by their ancestors) in our family.’ “Another of my relatives was captured and got a parole by signing a statement that he never take up arms against the United States”. Ever the historian, Pierce noted that yankee General William Tecumseh Sherman “practiced (his war techniques) on Mississippi before he went up through Atlanta.” To that end, Pierce later learned that another of his relatives “hid in a cave during the Civil War to avoid joining the Confederates.” As the crowd once again laughed with Pierce at the irony of his upbringing as a proud Southerner, with stories of his ancestors’ loyalty to and heroism on behalf of the Confederacy, only to learn from digging further that the story is much more complicated. “So on the one side I have a yankee cavalryman — and on the other side, a confederate draft-dodger,” Pierce said.
“I tell that because this is a very important thing. There is an important reason why so many of those monuments went up in the 1890s and early 1900s — definitely because of the victories in the white supremacy movement. “The other things was Southerners often forget how divided the South was” after the Civil War. “Understanding history is important... It’s important that we understand the significance of those memorials “There’s a reason memorials didn’t go up right after the war. There was great unhappiness among white Southerners on what they got roped into.” However, a bit later, “memories have changed, nostalgia has kicked in, people have forgotten the hardships and deprivations they underwent.” He reiterated that the hardships and deprovations were “a big reason was so many Southerners (at the time) did not have fond memories of the Civil War. “I’m always amazed that the place you can always buy a Confederate battle flag today (near Asheville) is in Sevier County, Tenn. (Its leading towns are Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville.) He said his amazement is based on the fact that Sevier County “is a place that had maybe two Confederate solders and was heavily pro-United States during the Civil War. That history has been forgotten, but has not been lost.” Waters, the moderator, then noted that “America is different in its founding. It’s the one country on the planet that was founded on an ideal. It was founded on a creed. He added that one question he asks UNCA students in his U.S. history classes is: “What did The Declaration (of Independence) declare?” To that end, Waters said, “Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of
Independence, refers to the ideas of the Enlightenment. So I raise again... What was America? What was it meant to be? How well have we done in getting to that ideal? Also, what was the meaning of the Civil War? Waters suggested to the panelists that those questions could help provide “a frame in which to look at the monuments themselves.? Mitchell replied, “As far as the ideals of our country, I think of myself as an optimist and as an idealist. “I would say most Americans truly love the ideals of our country. The ideals of our country are beautiful. If they ever had been put into practice, I’d love to have seen what would have happened. “However, our country was founded on the ideals of white supremacy. As far as our nation, we have beautiful ideals and they’re worthy of protecting and fighting for. We may protest in many ways because we can see that we have failed to live up to our ideals. Miles added, “An author I really like is Jonathan Haidt, who wrote ‘The Righteous Mind.’ So definitely the story of our founding is something we’ve never come close to. “As a child, as I was being told the story — it was a very whitewashed. I think we have to hold our story lightly and look more deeply,” Miles said. Smith, the councilwoman, asserted, “I’d say the ideals of this country are terrific. But the nation was envisioned as one for whites” only. “I think it’s interesting that we’re seeing a lot of the reverse happening. We’re seeing the re-formation, I hope, of a strong black middle-class, which the current president of the NAACP envisioned as a third reconstruction.” See MONUMENTS, Page A13
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Asheville Daily Planet — February 2018 — A13
Monuments
Continued from Page A1 Next, Pierce, the UNCA history professor said, said, “I’m with Sasha as an idealist. … How problematic Thomas Jefferson is... He is someone you can quote for almost anything.... “Let’s look at the authors of the Declaration of Independence and understand their context. Even though they didn’t live up to that ideal, you have to still look at the validity of the ideals. I think it’s crucial that we live up to the ideals.” The founders’ overarching ideal “was a qualified ‘all men are created equal,’ which didn’t include blacks and women, but because those words were enshrined in this country we could welcome (future possibilities) …. because the ideal is there... we should hold it up,” Pierce said. “We don’t live up to the ideals, but we need the ideals up there to try to achieve. When we quit trying do that,” Americans will likely lose their way, Pierce said. Waters then pointed out that Jefferson said that “human beings are just conflicts anyway. We know that.” Waters noted that, in 1783, “someone is asking Jefferson about the meaning of ‘the brotherhood of all mankind.’ Because of the (Revolutionary) war itself, he said the future of the slave was rising. “By 1823, not long before his death, he (Jefferson) put it upon the rising generation to make the emancipation. But he felt it was squandered,” Waters said. “I just throw that out there — the striving toward that ideal. We could make much of the difference between the experience of the common soldier (of the Confederacy) and the leaders of the rebellion in 1861.” Miles said, “I think we all sort of agree that optimism is something we should strive for. But I do believe part of our responsibility ... is to talk about the stories we tell ourselves… And all of those things we tell ourselves. “Jefferson raped a 14-year-old sister of his wife. He also made a big part of his money by nail-making from (the unpaid work of) 9- and 10-year old black (slave) boys. And those all relate to me the statues. When we talk about the Civil War, we talk about oppression and classism. Pierce added, “Well, again, I was coming of age” during the centennial of the Civil War. “We did a Civil War notebook in fifth grade, so I was steeped in that. Then I went to college and studied history — and learned a lot more about things.” After a pause, Pierce said, “I often get, ‘You know, the Civil War wasn’t about slavery.’ Depending upon the age of the person, I just let it go.” As for the causes of the Civil War, Pierce cited Shelby Foote, “the Memphis historian-writer, who wrote a many-volume edition of the Civil War. He (Foote) wrote of a poor Southern soldier who was captured by the yankees, who asked him, ‘Why are you fighting?’” “‘Because you are here,” the Southerner reportedly told the yankees, Pierce said. “This person is not fighting over slavery ... he was fighting for his home. “There is the question of why people fought for the Confederacy. And there’s the question of what started the Civil War. I could say that the Civil War started over slavery. Others would say the Civil War started over ‘states rights,’” Pierce said. With a smile, Pierce said that whenever someone says that states rights was the cause of the Civil War, “I say, ‘States rights — to do what? To continue slavery.’” Further, the history professor said, “The Deep South states seceded immediately after (the yankee bombardment of) Fort Sumter (S.C.),” and located the Confederacy’s first capital in Montfomery, Ala.
Panelists at the “Confederate Monuments” discussion at UNCA are (from left) Dan Pierce, Sasha Mitchell, Deborah Miles and Sheneika Smith. To the far right is the program’s moderator, Darin Waters. “The documents invariably include the argument to persuade North Carolina, Virgina (and other states) to join” the Confederacy. The documents clearly show that it (the succession and formation of the Confederacy) was about slavery,” Pierce noted. Yet, he added, “after the war, (Southern) people said it (the war) wasn’t about slavery.” Pierce noted that, “for me as a kid, it (the Confederacy) was about honor, valor and brave solders and that type of thing. But when you look at things, when you look at the evidence, it clearly shows that the reason the war started was over slavery.” At that point, Mitchell said, “I’ve got some ugly things to talk about.. I think the efforts to place Confederate monuments” were about white supremacy. “By the time the Civil War was ended, both of those groups agreed that the most important thing was to keep black and white people separated. “Since black slaves were brought to the contry, generally white males were raping black females “Then there was discussion of the fear of black men doing the same” to white women, Mitchell said. “I identify as a mixed-race person… Common men and women had good reason to resent blacks because they would work for free. “When their was an effort to unite the poor black and white,” the white supremacists interfered and urged poor whites not to ally with poor blacks on the basis that whites are superior, she said. “I think the monuments were about reminding people to keep the division between the races. You might not have fought for that reason. That fear of what racemixing means, especially if it’s the other way around than it typically went (a black man having sex with a white woman), was a deep-seated fear. That’s why the removal of those symbols represents. “I know that’s an ugly thing to think about, but it’s reflective in our history. “I know most African-Americans have about 25 percent Caucasion (ancestory) in them... I don’t know what the flipside is for Caucasions, as to the average amount of African they have in them.” Waters, the moderator, then said, “In reference to some of the things Sasha said, these are Civil War monuments that we’re talking about. We’re in the sesquecential of Reconstruction.” He highly recommended that those who are interested in the real history of the era in the South read Nash’s book, “Reconstruction’s Ragged Edge.” Waters asked, “Who have we memorialized in these monuments? What’s more, he said the Southern succession appears to have violated Constitution Article 1, Section 10 — ‘no states shall enter into an alliance….’ “So I ask the question as we’re going toward this (Civil) war… Is that section of the Constitution being violated?” Further, Waters wondered, “I still ask
how should we commemorate those (Southern) leaders who led us into this? Mitchell said, “Many of the Confederate monuments and memorials are not in the South. There was a great deal of united thought in remembering and honoring white supremacy thought. That’s why I think they should be removed from the center of our public squares — and same for those ‘sundown towns.’” At that point, a number of the event’s attendees asked for the definition of “sundown towns,” a term with which they said they were not familiar. “Blacks were warned to get out of town by night because they weren’t welcome, so that places would remain white-only” and became known as “sundown towns.” Mitchell added, “This isn’t just a northsouth issue or Confederate-Union issue. It’s a white unity issue. It’s so important for the healing of our nation to refrain from honoring the leaders of the movement. Pierce responded that, “In this state, it’s virtually impossible to take down a monument on public property. To do that, I think you’d need an act of the legislature. It’s probably going to end up in the court,” he said of the effort to take down the Vance Monument in downtown Asheville’s centerpoint, Pack Square. “There’s an ugly effort now to have a Confederate flag along I-40 in every county in North Carolina,” Pierce said. For the last 15 minutes of the program, questions from the crowd were addressed by the panelists. One questioner asked how Americans can bridge the gap between economic displacement of whites and blacks. To that query, Miles asserted, “It’s not just about economics, it’s also about sex. It’s about who controls women.” Waters, the moderator, noted that an author wrote about Southern honor – “what it meant to many Southerners at the time. It was strong and remained strong at the time. But it also looks at what that meant to blacks and women. “So this concept of honor is important for us to understand in the Old South. I think there still are elements of that now.” Someone in the crowd asked if it (is) really possible to contextualize monuments. “I think that in the case of our country right now, where we see an unprecedented wealth transfer, the fear of economic loss is real,” Mitchell said. “Those laws that say you can’t take down a Confederate monument — I think there are ways
we can address this when most common people have more input. We need to put in place laws” that give more power to the people She added, “One other point to make about the Vance Monument, it’s not on public land.” Smith, the councilwoman, said, “When it comes to a conversation about choosing sides, as was said during the Civil War, ‘a house divided cannot stand.’ People chose sides. And when you choose sides, hatred often is the leading ideal.” Waters noted that “there was a comment (from a questioner in the crowd) about Southern honor…. How the United Daughters of the Confederation spun the narrative.” Pierce said “the question about the Lost Cause ideology gets to the question of looking at our real history. Unfortunately, we’ve fallen into a fallacy of being a factless society. I think we need to look back at the real past. “The Confederacy lost the war, but for a long, long time, they won the peace. They were able to ‘spin’ the Confederate experience and move it away from race — and talk about honor. It was called ‘the religion of the Lost Cause.’ It’s a religion — and that’s what it’s all about. “For a lot of white Southerners, that’s what we want to believe... We want to believe they (their ancestors) were good people — and they were. But race” was the motivation for the Civil War. “We really do need to take an honest look at these things. And recognize that what we believe passionately might not be based on real facts — and to be able to accept the facts as they are,” Pierce said.
A14 - February 2018 - Asheville Daily Planet
Opioid crisis Continued from Page A1
Frost added, “Fast-forward to what we have now. In Buncombe County, you are more likely to become addicted to heroin than to buy a car. There’s no difference between heroin and other opioids. The stories are tragic, absolutely tragic. “We know one story of a young man who had everything going for him. He had his wisdom teeth taken out. He got addicted to his oxcycodone. He OD’d (overdosed) in a bathroom at A-B Tech. The DA (district attorney) and emergency services know the toll is takes. We talk to recovering heroin addicts — and they are heroes.” In response, she said the county “is filing a lawsuit against the drug manufacturers. We’re trying to cultivate more Ellen Frost peer to peer support. What we know is that abstinence does not work…. But the biggest thing we’ve done is education. One message is, ‘if you go home, and you have oxcycodone (and similar drugs), take them to the (Buncombe) Sheriff’s Office.” Frost asked everyone to remember “that 80 percent of the people addicted start with a legal prescription.” Further, the county commissioner from Black Mountain said, “Tell a child, especially, that one Tylenol and/or one Ibuprofen” is a better and safer option than taking drugs that lead to opioid addiction. “We’re working actively with Mission (Hospital)” to encourage doctors and parents and other caregivers to encourage people to take a single Tylenol or Ibuprofen tablet instead of oxycodone.” After a brief pause, Frost said, “To me, the only ones I can blame, are the drug manufacturers.... “The biggest thing to take from this (address) is, if you have drugs in your home, please get rid of them. If young children are having drugs prescribed, be sure they don’t take oxcycodone. “To us,” she said in including fellow Commissioner Mike Fryar of Fairview, who was also present at the meeting, “the only way forward is through education.” During a question-and-answer session that followed Frost’s address, a man asked, “What are the schools doing about this?” “The schools are working on education about this,” Frost replied. Another man queried, “Is most of the problem legal or illegal? “It starts with legal,” Frost answered, “but once legal isn’t available anymore to them, they get them (the opioids) on the street. They get black tar heroin, but they really don’t know what they’re getting. “This is a disease of the brain — and that is what is so dangerous... People, at that point, all they’re trying to do is get high again. CIBO member Mac Swicegood expressed concern about “the jail issue with the woman dying from overdose” recently. “The sheriff (now) has a machine where people can be tested” for drugs, Frost said. “We are on that. Again, that was horrific. It was awful, absolutely awful. We are educating the jail staff.” CIBO leader and moderator Buzzy Cannady said of Frost’s recommendation earlier to take just a single table of Tylenol or Ibuprofenor, “That’s the first I’ve heard that Tylenol is as effective” as oxycodone. “More effective,” Frost added, succinctly, while adding that “we need more funding” to fight the opioid crisis. For example, she said that methadone, “when it first happened” that it was prescribed for pain relief, “the same people started getting cravings — and waiting for
them were our friends, selling black-tar methadone” from Mexico. “We keep coming back to ... nobody sets out to be a heroin addict.” What’s more, Frost asserted, “Insurance companies are the worst — halfway through, they want to end paying for treatments. A woman asked about other possibilities, seuch as practicing abstinence, rather than taking drugs for pain relief. “The evidence shows that abstinence doesn’t work,” Frost replied. “Remember, Tylonol, Ibuprofen, but no oxcycodone.” In a separate address, Buncombe District Attorney Attorney Todd Williams began his portion of the CIBO program by noting that “I really appreciate with what Mrs. Frost led off with.” He then discussed the issue he had raised about four years ago “of what could be expected from the DA office.” To that end, Williams said, “The DA office is now committed to broadening out the scope of justice to support victims. “On the back end, Ellen Frost spoke to drug addiction and we see this over and over again — folks who have gone through their lives without any contact with the criminal justice system” becoming drugaddicted and ending up incarcerated. “We want to put people back on the path… Jail and prison is for truly violent offenders....” Williams add that “that’s a really broad sketch on how we move people through our justice system.” However, he then said, “My point today is to talk about a third problem — jail diversions After a Williams’ assistant presented a lengthy, detailed report, a man asked, “You mentioned victims. In court you talked about administrative dismissals, but that word ‘intent’ is a really good one. Dismissing people who should be in prison is one thing. How do you determine intent when, maybe, they really should be in jail?” Williams replied, “It’s limited to Class 3 misdemeanors. I do appreciate the question, though. Even a simple assault” is of concern to the individual on the other side of it. “We’re not talking about any kind of crime that involves a victim.” Frost interjected that the county recently spent $48 million to build a new jail and, when “this diversion program was created those incarcerated “went from 560 to 460.” She added, “It’s amazing the cooperation and the work. Nobody wants anyone dangerous out there.” Taking a more skeptical stance, Swicegood said, “When I first looked at these statistics you showed me, it’s basically a ‘get out of jail free card.’ I guess it’s because of the opiates....” Swicegood added, “When I grew up, there used to be a psychological deterrent to stand before a judge. As a society, we’ve really shot ourselves in the foot.” Williams smiled at Swicegood and said simply, “Thank you for the remarks!”
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A16 — February 2018 - Asheville Daily Planet
Entertainment & Calendar of Events
Special Section PULLOUT
B1
Asheville Daily Planet — February 2018
Glenn Miller band swings at Big Band Weekend
Shelley Wright
Remote viewing for fun and profit
I The Glenn Miller Orchestra performed both nights (Jan. 12-13) of Big Band Weekend in the Great Hall at Asheville’s Omni Grove Park Inn. Above left is Jenny Wylder, the band’s female singer. Above center is the band’s saxophone section (standing up in unison to play a par-
Daily Planet staff photos
ticularly lively part of a song), led by Nick Hilscher to their left. Above right is the elegantly attired Asheville couple Ted and Kimberly Rose dancing the foxtrot — the most popular American dance of the 1920s and ‘30s and known as “the Rolls Royce” of ballroom dancing of that era.
From ‘Moonlight Serenade’ to ‘In the Mood,’ Miller’s music shines
By JOHN NORTH
B
john@ashevilledailyplanet.com
ig band leader Glenn Miller may have died when the airplane in which he was a passenger disappeared over the English Channel in 1944, but appreciation for the man and his top musical compositions continues to this day — if the excitement and action at the annual Big Band Weekend on Jan. 12-14 at Omni Grove Park Inn in North Asheville was any indication. Hundreds of attendees, who treasure the big band era of music and dance, brought their dance shoes and hit the smooth wooden floor in GPI’s Great Hall to dance — mostly the foxtrot, rhumba, East Coast swing and American waltz.
Nick Hilscher, the band leader, also was the GMO’s lead male singer. Besides the two nights of performances by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, attendees were treated to exclusive activities including a Saturday morning dance instruction and a Saturday afternoon tea dance, as well as guided history tours, a cooking demonstration, chair massages and livethemed music throughout the resort.
The Jan. 12 first set began with Miller’s signature song, “Moonlight Seranade,” which was played quite a bit slower than the original arrangement, followed by such hits as “A String of Pearls” (a quintesssential Miller song that Miller did not write, but did record ,just before he enrolled in the U.S. Army), “Where Or When” and “Little Brown Jug.” The set ended with a bang with a red-hot rendition of “I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo.” The second set’s second song was a riproaring rendition of “In the Mood,” which is widely considered the most popular song from the big band era. Other second set highlights included “The Way You Look Tonight” and the GMO’s notable cover of “The Girl From Ipanema.” See SHINES, Page B7
Cash Unchained band? It was (truly) smoking
By JOHN NORTH
‘A Turnpike Sunset’ show offers local history lesson By DAVE ROWE
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Special to the Daily Planet
john@ashevilledailyplanet.com
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historic house just behind the Grey Eagle Music Hall in Asheville’s River Arts District was aflame, in fact it could be called “A Ring of Fire,” but the conflagration merely delayed the start of the Jan. 7 performance of the tribute band, Cash Unchained: The Music of Johnny Cash. Indeed, at the time the concert was scheduled to start, the Grey Eagle was surrounded by fire trucks, with water hoses crisscrossing its parking lot and surrounding streets and firefighters scrambling. However, the 90-minute show with no intermission had to go on — and it did and began only an hour late ... at 9 p.m. As the small crowd of, at most, 50 people shuffled in through the smoke during the show, the contrast of a tiny turnout with the projected sold-out concert that was expected, was stark. To lighten things up and keep to what appeared to be the theme for the night, the DJ before the concert played a series of recordings fearuring fire, including “Burning Down the House,” a 1983 hit by The Talking Heads, “Light My Fire” by The Doors; and “Fire” by Jimi Hendrix, among many such songs. As the show started, the Virginia-based band’s 18-year-old lead singer, James Tamelcoff III, captured Cash’s trademark baritone
ended up embarking on my quest to learn all about remote viewing just a week after I turned in my last column. In it, I expressed my sincere desire to learn this new skill in the upcoming year. Little did I know how quickly my adventure would begin. I got a phone call out of the blue from my friend, Joshua Warren, who wondered if I wanted to help him with a little experiment. He had just returned from Las Vegas, where he had met one of the original members of the government group tasked to study remote viewing. He was one of the men whom the movie “The Men Who Stare at Goats” was based! He was played by George Clooney! Heck, yeah, I want to hear what he had to say! We met at an undisclosed location where I agreed to be filmed while he taught me the process. We practiced three different lessons with playing cards and I got all three correct! I was on a roll. Then we switched to something more practical, off-camera. Powerball! Since Joshua’s wife, Lauren, wasn’t behind the camera anymore, she could take part in this new experiment. We set out to see if we could scientifically pick the winning numbers. We were powerfully motivated, too. The jackpot was more than $150 million! We worked diligently for more than two hours trying to come up with who was the better “sitter,” the person coming up with information and the person who was the better “sender,” the one who can look at an object and “send” that picture or impression to another person. See WRIGHT, Page B7
Facebook photo
The tribute band Cash Unchained: The Music of Johnny Crash” was performed on Jan. 7 at the Grey Eagle Concert Hall in Asheville’s River Arts District.
voice. As advertise, the band delivered “the infectious, driving rhythm of the Tennessee Three.” There also was an unidentified woman who sang a few songs with Tamelcoff, playing the role of June Carter Cash, his talented wife. A highlight of her stage appearance was a rollicking, fun duet on the classic song “Jackson.” See CASH UNCHAINED, Page B6
t’s a lively Buncombe County evening around the campfire, circa 1860. It’s “A Turnpike Sunset,” a locally written and produced musical presented Jan. 11-21 at Asheville Community Theater. In it, playwright and musician Tom Godleski portrayed Ezra, a turkey drover on the Buncombe Turnpike, the livestock transporting road that jutted through the mountains here in the mid-1800s. Ezra, turkey feather in hatband, likes his corn whiskey and often breaks into song. His friend Caleb, played by Steve Ansley, with grizzled whiskers, herds mules along the Turnpike, which ran from Tennessee to South Carolina and transported large numbers of people as well as animals. Asked about his charges, he replies, “they’re stubborn.” In black frock, Preacher, played by Jack Heinen, doesn’t quote Scripture. Instead, he tells corny jokes and delivers history lessons. See ‘A TURNPIKE SUNSET,’ Page B7
B2 - February 2018 - Asheville Daily Planet
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The group Umphreys McGee will perform in concert at 8 p.m. Feb. 16 and 17 at the U.S. Cellular Center in downtown Asheville.
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Please submit items to the Calendar of Events by noon on the third Wednesday of each month, via e-mail, at calendar@ashevilledailyplanet. com, or fax to 252-6567, or mail c/o The Daily Planet, P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 288148490. Submissions will be accepted and printed at the discretion of the editor, space permitting. To place an ad for an event, call 252-6565.
Thursday, Feb. 1
“JEEVES TAKES A BOW” SHOW, 7:30 p.m., N.C. Stage Company, 15 Stage Lane, Ashville. The comedy “Jeeves Takes a Bow” will be performed through Feb. 18. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays. The play depicts the British upper crust meeting the New York mob when everyone’s hapless hero, Bertie Wooster, embarks on an American adverture armed only with his handsome fortune and his remarkable manservant, Jeeves. In less than a New York minute, Wooster finds himself kneedeep in troubles with vengeful gangsters, chorus girls and a new Broadway musical. For tickets, call 239-0263or visit ncstage.org. SIERRA CLUB MEETING, 7-9 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place, North Asheville. Bill “Skywalker” Walker will share his latest adventure, hiking the world’s greatest mountain range — the Himalayas in Nepal and the world. Walker, known as “Skywalker” because of his 7-foot height, has left his boot-prints on the length of both the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails, as well as countless other trails in Europe and Asia. The event is free and open to the public.
Friday, Feb. 2
Fab Friday Lecture 11:30 a.m. -1:15
LETTERS The Asheville Daily Planet invites Letters to the Editor of 200 words or less. Please include your name, mailing address, daytime telephone number and e-mail address. For more information, call (828) 252-6565. Send mail to: Letters, Asheville Daily Planet P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, NC 28814 Send e-mail to: letters@ashevilledailyplanet.com
p.m.,Room 102, Reuter Center Room, UNC Asheville. A panel will address “Asheville Race Relations, Black-White, Past and Present.” Panelist will include Al Whitesides, Marvin Chambers, Keynon Lake and Tracy Green-Washington. This panel presentation will focus on black and white race relations in Asheville from the days of desegregation in the public schools to what is happening today. The speakers will include activists who were a significant part of the effort to desegregate Asheville City Schools. The activists are still civic leaders today continuing their part in improving race relations in the 21st century. Asheville Student Committee on Racial Equality exists because of them. “There also will be younger panelists who have another perspective and know that the task is on-going and they are leading actions and movements to improve the lives of African-Americans in the Western North Carolina. The task is not done,” a press release noted. “Come listen and learn what these movers and shakers have to say.” Among the panelists, Whitesides, Buncombe Country Commissioner, and Marvin Chambers, were both instrumental in the desegregation of Asheville public schools in the 1960s and 1970s, and still making strides for change. And panelist Keynon Lake, founder of “My Daddy Taught Me That” works for the Buncombe County Health and Human Services Department, while Tracy Green-Washington is the founder of the CoThink Foundation and she formerly worked for the Z Smith Reynolds. GROUNDHOG DAY CELEBRATION, 5-8 p.m., Wedge Studio, River Arts District, Asheville. A Groundhog Day celebration will feature art, themed costumes, light refreshments and fun. Themed costumes are welcome and encouraged — and prizes will be given for the worst outfits, with judging based purley on favoritism. For tickets, which are $40 for general admission and $5 for youngsters under 25, visit www.AshevilleChamberMusic.org or call 257-4530. FIRST FRIDAY ART CRAWL, 6-8:30 p.m., downtown Boone. Studios will open their doors, so that evening strollers can look at artworks and mingle with the artists themselves. Live music and complimentary refreshments will be offered at various venus. “LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE” CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Hendersonville Community Theatre, 229 S. Washington St., Hendersonville. The show “Love, Loss and What I Wore” will be performed Feb. 2-11. Showtimes vary. For tickets, visit HendersonvilleTheatre.org or 692-1082.
See CALENDAR, Page B3
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Barrington “Bo” Henderson will bring the unforgettable songs of Motown to Spindale in a Temptations Revue at 8 p.m. Feb. 17 at The Foundation Performing Arts Center at Isothermal Community College in Spindale.
Calendar of Events Continued from Page B2
Friday, Feb. 2
“SENSE AND SENSIBILITY” PRODUCTION, 8 p.m., Diana Wortham Theatre, 18 Biltmore Avenue, downtown Asheville. The Aquila Theatre company will perform a threatrical rendition of Jane’s Austen’s literary classic “Sense and Sensibility.” Aquila also will host a discussion an hour before the show at nearby Asheville Music School. For tickets, which are $40 for adults, $35 for students and $20 for children, call 257-4530 or visit dwtheatre.com.
Saturday, Feb. 3
SOCIAL JUSTICE EVENT, 2 p.m., North Carolina Room, Pack Memorial Library, downtown Ashville. A “tell-all” history event on Buncombe County’s Confederate monuments will be held, titled “The Monumental Decisions: The Legacy and Future of Civil War Markers in Our Public Spaces.” The program will begin with two brief presentations by local historians Roy Harris, who will survey Buncombe County’s Confederate monuments (when and how they came into existence); and Jon Elliston, who will review the history of the local white supremacy movement that undergirded the introduction of the monuments. Special quest speaker professor Fitzhugh Brundage, chair of UNC Chapel Hill’s History Department, will headline a program on interpreting and dealing with Civil War monuments. The title of Professor Brundage’s talk will be, “A Vexing and Awkward Debate: The Legacy of a Confederate Landscape?” The focus of this program is to present when and where monuments were placed, who placed them, who paid for them, and a look at how they were presented to the public when they were placed. The program’s aim is to shed light on the social and political times of Asheville, Buncombe County and North Carolina, during the time that they were erected. “THE FRENCH CONNECTION” CONCERT, 2 p.m., Flat Rock Playhouse, 125 S. Main St., downtown Hendersonville. A concert, “The French Connection,” will feature local pianist Christopher Tavernier and flutist Matthew Hanna. The program will be in support of the Henderson County Hunger Coalition. Concert-goers are asked to bring nonperishable food to the show. For tickets, which are $35 each, visit www.TheFrenchConnection.rocks or call (773) 213-2200. “BEAT THE WINTER BLUES” BALL, 6:30-10 p.m., YMI Cultural Center, 39 S. Market St., downtown Asheville. The soul band Westsound will perform and heavy snacks will be provided, along with an open beer and wine bar. Also a silent iauction will be held. The attire is billed as “Asheville chic.” The event, hosted by The Rotary Club of Ashevill-Metro, is a fundraiser for Coins for Alzheimer’s Research Trust (CART Fund) and ABCCM’s Veterans Restoration Quarters. Tickets are $50 at the door. To reserve tickets, visit www.purplepass.com/BeatWinterBlues. ZACH WILLIAMS & CITIZEN WAY CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, 1028 Georgia Road, Franklin. Zach Williams & Citizen Way will perform in concert. For tickets, call 524-1598 or visit www.great-
mountainmusic.com. GLENN MILLER ORCHESTRA, 7:30 p.m., ., Niswonger Performing Arts Center, Greeneville, Tenn. The Glenn Miller Orchestra will perform. For tickets, visit www.npacgreeneville.com, or call (423) 638-1679. SHANA TUCKER CONCERT, 8 p.m., Tryon Fine Arts Center, Tryon. ChamberSoul siren Shana Tucker will perform in concert. “Her sweet, unerring voice alone would be enough to support a career; what makes Tucker special is her adherence to the cello, boldly taking the instrument into new territory,” according to IndyWeek. For tickets, call 859-8322 or visit tryonarts.org.
Tuesday, Feb. 6
FACULTY SHOWCASE CONCERT, 7 p.m., Lipinsky Hall, UNC Asheville. A Faculty Showcase Concert will be held. BOOK DISCUSSION, 7 p.m., Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café, 55 Haywood St., downtown Asheville. Bruce Roth will host a meeting of the Current Events Book Club for a lively discussion of “Rules for Revolutionaries: How Big Organizing Can Change Everything” by Becky Bond and Zack Exley. All are invited and dmission is free.
Wednesday, Feb. 7
ASHEVILLE SOCIALIST MEETING AT UNCA, 6:30-8 p.m., 103 Rhoades Robinson, UNC Asheville. The Asheville Socialists will present a program on “Year One of Trump: Building a Socialist Left and Fighting Back.”
Thursday, Feb. 8
PEDRITO MARTIN CLASS, 9:55-11:10 a.m., Room 018, Lipinsky Hall , UNC Asheville. Pedrito Martinez, a noted musician, will offer a master class. The class is free and open to all. HENDERSONVILLE GREEN DRINKS, 5:30-7 p.m., Black Bear Coffee, Hendersonville. Hendersonville Green Drinks will learn about current environmental issues with regional guest speakers and like-minded people. Everyone is welcome to the monthly gala — and attendees do not have to drink at a Green Drinks meeting. Guest speakers have yet to be announced. PEDRITO MARTIN CONCERT, 7 p.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. Pedrito Martinez, a singer and master percussionist, will perform in concert. He won a Grammy nomination for best Latin jazz album with his first recording. His most recent album, “Habana Dreams,” features guest appearances by Wynton Marsalis, Ruben Blads and Angelique Kidjo. For tickets, which are $15 for the general public, visit events.unca.edu.
See CALENDAR, Page B6
TO REPORT AN ERROR
The Asheville Daily Planet strives to be accurate in all articles published. Contact the News Department at news@ashevilledailyplanet.com, (828) 252-6565, or P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 28814-8490.
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B4 — February 2018 — Asheville Daily Planet
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Asheville Daily Planet — February 2018 — B5
B6 — February 2018 — Asheville Daily Planet
Calendar of
Continued from Page B3
Thursday, Feb. 8
“ALABAMA STORY” PRODUCTION, 7:30 p.m., BeBe Theatre, 20 Commerce St., downtown Asheville. Censorship, Racism, and “Sepia Toned” Leadership’s Different Strokes! Performing Arts Collective will present a North Carolina Premiere of “Alabama Story” by Kenneth Jones. Directed by Stephanie Hickling Beckman, the play will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 8-24.(on Thursdays through Saturdays). “Alabama Story” is based on a true event from 1959, in Montgomery, Ala. When Alabama Senator E.O Eddins Sr. (renamed E.W. Higgins in the play) learns that a children’s book called “The Rabbits’ Wedding” featuring the marriage of two rabbits (one white, one black) is among the books available for check-out in Alabama libraries, he determines to have it banned. Calling it subliminal propaganda for interracial marriage, Eddins engages Emily Wheelock Reed, the director of Alabama’s Public Library Service, in a conflict that becomes known as the “bunny book crusade.” A secondary story-line involves the chance meeting of two childhood friends separated by a traumatic incident. Their role in the play is best described by Jones, himself: “Lily and Joshua, a black man and a white woman who were once childhood friends in that small town, reunite in Montgomery the same year that the library battle is being waged. They are meant to suggest the private heart of the public controversy… the quality of their character will be challenged in their 30 exchanges.” Online tickets are $18 in advance, and $21 at the door.
Friday, Feb. 9
HENDERSONVILLE GREEN DRINKS, 5:30-7 p.m., Black Bear Coffee, Hendersonville. HGD will hold a program in which attendees will learn about current environmental issues with regional guest speakers and like-minded people. Everyone is welcome. ENVIRONMENTAL/SOCIAL JUSTICE FILM SCREENING, 7 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place, North Asheville. The film, “Whose Streets,” a film about the killing of Michael Brown and the subsequent Ferguson uprising will be screened Feb.9.. The film premiered at the 2017 Sundance film festival. All are invited and admission is free.
Saturday, Feb. 10
THE DIAMONDS CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, 1028 Georgia Road, Franklin. The band The Diamonds will perform in concert. In 1957, The Diamonds released an instant million selling hit called “Little Darlin’.” The song continues to sell worldwide and has been dubbed “the National Anthem of Rock and Roll.” To date it has sold about 20 million copies and led to many honors and accolades including three Gold Records, 33 appearances on American Bandstand, the “American Graffiti” Soundtrack, the soundtrack to “Happy Days” and inductions into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and the Doo-Wop Hall of Fame. Through the years since the release of “Little Darlin’,” The Diamonds have learned one important lesson — the durability of this classic rock ‘n’ roll music is as much about the future as it is about the past. As a result, The Diamonds continue to expand their audience to this day, performing in a variety of venues and settings worldwide. For tickets, call 524-1598 or visit www.greatmountainmusic.com. MASTERWORKS CONCERT, 8 p.m., Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, downtown Asheville. A “Masterworks 4: Scot Free” concert will feature Men-
The band RAIN — A Tribute to the Beatles will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of the album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” by bringing the historic album to life in its entirety – for the first time ever – in a psychedelic multimedia spectacular at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 20 at The Peace Center in Greenville, S.C. delsohn’s Scottish works performed by the Asheville Symphony Orchestra. For tickets, call 254-7046 or visit ashevillesymphony.org. SWANNANOA VALLEY MLK PRAYER BREAKFAST, 8 a.m., Camp Dorothy Walls, Cragmont Road, Black Mountain. The 28th Annual Swannanoa Valley Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Prayer Breakfast will feature as its keynote speaker George Logan, a native of Black Mountain and son of Wayne Logan and lifelong Black Mountain resident Lillian Logan. Logan graduated from Owen High School in 1982 and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1986. He was commissioned as a United States Army officer shortly after his graduation from UNC. Upon completion of his military training, he said he sensed God’s call to ministry and attended a school in Los Angeles — Crenshaw Christian Center Ministry Training Institute. Fulfilling his theological and ministerial studies and graduating from the program in 1992 he ministered with New Life for Old Prison Ministry, serving in jails, prisons and youth camps in California and Nevada. the Rev. Logan now lives in Morganton, where he is the pastor of the church he founded in 1994 — New Day Christian Church. He has continued much involvement in the prisons and community serving on a variety of boards as well as coaching, mentoring youth, and volunteering for NC Dept. of Corrections. For tickets , which are $15, visit svmlk.org.
Sunday, Feb. 11
DIANA KRALLS CONCERT, 8 p.m., Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, downtown Asheville. Diana Krall will perform in concert as part of her “Turn Up the Quiet Tour.”
Tuesday, Feb. 13
BOOK DISCUSSION, noon, Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café, 55 Haywood St., downtown Asheville. The Discussion Bound Book Club, hosted by the Asheville Art Museum, will discuss “Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power” by Mark Godfrey. Attendees are encouraged to bring a copy of the featured book and a brown-bag lunch to make the most of their midday break. All are welcome and admission is free.
Wednesday, Feb. 14
ISSUES & ACTIONS MEETING, 6 p.m., The Wedge at Foundation, 5 Foundry St., Asheville. Mountain True and the Sierra Club will hold its monthly meeting to discuss concrete action for environmental issues at the state, local and national levels.
Thursday, Feb. 15
“LOVE, GUY” SHOW, 7 p.m., downtown venue
Cash Unchained Continued from Page B1 The show started with “Folsom Prison Blues,” followed by “The Orange Blossom Special” and “I Walk the Line.” At that point, Tamelcoff told the crowd, “That... that was unexpected — the fire.” When a woman in the crowd yelled out request for “Ring of Fire,” Tamelcoff replied, “I guess that that’s appropriate. Let’s do it.” As the band launched into “Ring of Fire,”
the crowd cheered enthusiastically. It was surreal, given that there was still a house aflame behind the music hall. Later, Tamelcoff asked for requests, at which point the band and him performed “God’s Going to Cut You Down,” followed by “A Boy Named Sue.” Another highlight of the show was a part, toward the end of the concert, where Tamelcoff, as Cash, is joined on stage by
of Flat Rock Playhouse, downtown Hendersonville. Regarding the show, FRP noted, “From a Valentine’s Day concert starring our very own Guy Lemonnier to the music of our Carolina beaches. Need we say more?” FRP favorite Guy LeMonnier, backed by the Music on the Rock band, will perform all of his favorite love songs for you and yours. Showtimes vary. For tickets, visit FlatRockPlayhouse.org, or call 693-0731. BROOKLYN RIDER CONCERT, 7 p.m., The Peace Center, downtown Greenville, S.C. The string quartet Brooklyn Rider will perform in concert. For tickets, visit peacecenter.org. ST. VINCENT CONCERT, 8 p.m., Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, downtown Asheville. Annie Clark, aka “St. Vincent,” will perform in concert..
Friday, Feb. 16
LAURA STORY CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, 1028 Georgia Road, Franklin. Laura Story will perform in concert. For tickets, call 524-1598 or visit www.greatmountainmusic.com. LIGHTWIRE THEATER, 6:30 p.m., ., Niswonger Performing Arts Center, Greeneville, Tenn. Lightwire Theater will perform. For tickets, visit www. npacgreeneville.com, or call (423) 638-1679. UMPHREY’S MCGEE CONCERT, 8 p.m., U.S. Cellular Center, 87 Haywood St., downtown Asheville. The group Umphrey’s McGee will perform concerts at 8 p.m. Feb. 16 and 17.
Saturday, Feb. 17
SYMPHONY POPS PICNIC CONCERT, 6 p.m., Concert Hall, Blue Ridge Community College, East Flat Rock. The Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra’s newest event, “Love Is in the Air: A Symphony Pops Picnic,” will be performed by the HSO and hosted by the Friends of the HSO. Full tables also are available for parties of six or eight. For reservations, which are $125 per person, call the HSO office at 697-5884. PIANO RECITAL, 8 p.m., Central United Methodist Church, Asheville. Alexandre Tharaud will perform Bach’s “Goldberg” Variations, BWV 988 in a piano recital. TEMPTATIONS REVUE, 8 p.m., The Foundation Performiong Arts Center, Isothermal Community College, Spindale. Barrington “Bo” Henderson will bring the unforgettable songs of Motown to Spindale in a Temptations Revue. Henderson is one of the only leader singers of The Temptations to win a Grammy. “This dynamicand driving show spans more than a decade of Temptations’ classics,every one of these songs among the most recognizable and culture-defining songs in pop music history,” a press release noted. Among the hits to be performed will be “My Girl,” “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” “Get Ready,” “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” “Just My Imagination” and I “I Wish It Would Rain.” For tickets, visit www.FoundationShows. org, or call 286-9990.
Tuesday, Feb. 20
BEATLES TRIBUTE CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., The Peace Center, downtown Greenville, S.C. RAIN — A Tribute to the Beatles “will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by bringing the historic album to life in its entirety – for the first time ever – in a psychedelic multimedia spectacular,” a press release noted. “Together longer than The Beatles, RAIN has mastered every song, gesture and nuance of the legendary foursome, delivering a totally live, note-for-note performance that’s as infectious as it is transporting. Let RAIN take you back with all of the songs from ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,’ along with all of your other Beatles favorites such as ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand,’ ‘Hard Day’s Night,’ ‘Let It Be,’ ‘Come Together,’ ‘Hey Jude’ and more. This adoring tribute will take you back to a time when all you needed was love and a little help from your friends!” For tickets, visit peacecenter.org.
characters performing as The Highwaymen, which included Willie Nelson In promoting the concert, the Grey Eagle noted, “Take a journey back in time to the life and music of ‘The Man in Black performed by Cash Unchained. The band has been nationally sought after while touring all over U.S. bringing the sights and sounds of the legendary Johnny Cash. “Johnny Cash may not have been the
Wednesday, Feb. 21
AUTHOR’S READING/DISCUSSION, 7 p.m., Mountain View Room, Sherrill Center, UNC Asheville. David Ebershoff, whose debut novel, “Danish Girl,” was adapted into an Oscar-winning film, will read and discuss his work. He is listed by The New York Times on a timeline of 25 books that “have shaped LGBTQ literature” over the past 20 years. He is the author of three acclaimed novels. All are welcome and admission is free. ILLUSTRATED ART HISTORY LECTURE, 7:30 p.m., Humanities Lecture Hall, UNC Asheville. Archaeologist Karen Birtt will present an illustrated lecture on “Mosaic Discoveries in the Late Roman Synagogue at Huqoq.” Britt, a research scholar in art history at Western Carolina University, will focus on mosaics recently unearthed in Israel’s Lower Galilee. All are welcome and admission is free. MAVIS STAPLES CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., The Peace Center, downtown Greenville, S.C. Grammy Award-winner and Kennedy Center honoree Mavis Staples will perform in concert, with special guest The Broadcast. “Staples is living, breathing history,” a press release noted. “She made a name for herself in the 1950s as part of The Staple Singers, went on to contribute to the freedom songs of the Civil Rights era, and later rose to pop radio stardom with hits like ‘Time Waits for No One’ and ‘You Are Not Alone.’ Now in her seventh decade, Staples is setting out on a new headlining tour after crossing the country as support for Bob Dylan in the summer of 2016. With her trademark deep growl more powerful than ever, Staples shouts, croons, scats, swoops, and testifies like no one else can.” For tickets, visit peacecenter.org.
Tuesday, Feb. 27
HERITAGE CLASSIC DANCESPORT CHAMPIONSHIPS, 3 p.m., Omni Grove Park Inn, 290 Macon Ave., North Asheville. The Heritage Classic DanceSport Championships will begin at 3 p.m. Feb. 27 and run through noon March 3. It is a NDCA-sanctioned, ballroom dance competition.To tickets or more information, visit www. theheritageclassic.com. MUSIC FACULTY LECTURE, 7 p.m., Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall, UNC Asheville. A music faculty lecture will be given by Jacob Rodriguez, who began playing the saxophone at age 11. Rodriguez has been a member of the Michael Bublé band since 2007, appearing on the Grammy Award-winning album “Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden” as well as Bublé’s “Crazy Love.” Jacob is currently on a world tour with Bublé, playing arenas around the world. Rodriguez in Asheville, North Carolina, where he teaches, records, and performs with original music groups, ranging from soul to free jazz to indie. rock. All are invited and admission is free.
Wednesday, Feb. 28
RACIAL INEQUITY LECTURE, 7 p.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. Investigative journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones will address “Ending Racial Inequity in Our Schools: What Actually Works” as a benefit for the Asheville City Schools Foundation. Hannah-Jones, as a writer for The New York Times, has won many awards for her reporting on segregated housing and schools, the black experience in America and racial inequality. For tickets, call 350-6174 or visit acsf.org/nhj.
Thursday, March 1
UNCA THEATRICAL PRODUCTION, 7:30 p.m., Belk Theatre, UNC Asheville. Theatre UNCA will present “Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter,” a play that tells the story of a U.S. Marine finding a way to heal from her war experiences,reintegrate into society and rejoin her family. The play will be performed at 7:30 p.m. March 1-3 and at 2 p.m. March 4. For tickets, visit drama.unca.edu.
greatest singer or musical technician, but his sound was unforgettable. Steady like a train, sharp like a razor, with the perfect blend of country, rock ‘n’ roll, and folk music, Cash paved the way for artists of all genres for years to come. “Without Johnny Cash, we wouldn’t have some of the finest music we’ve all enjoyed over the past six decades,” a Grey Eagle press release noted.
Asheville Daily Planet - February 2018 - B7
Shines
Continued from Page B1 The second set concluded with a riveting “Chattanooga Choo-Choo.” The third set’s highlights included “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” “Tuxedo Junction,” “Sentimental Journey” and one of Cole Porter’s greatest compositions, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” The concert finished with a repeat performance of Miller’s theme song, “Moonlight Serenade.” Legacy.com noted that “the unique sound of Miller’s orchestra owed to his vision of a clarinet in the lead, backed by several saxophones playing in harmony. Add trombones (Miller’s instrument), trumpets, and a whole lot more – and you’ve got that great big-band sound.” The other two events in the GPI Winter Series are Classic Rock-N-Roll Weekend, March 16-18; and Comedy Classic Weekend, March 23-25. The March 16 Rock-N-Roll show will begin with The Stranger – A Tribute to Billy Joel, featuring a full band and nonstop energy. On March 17, the stage will rock
Wright
Continued from Page B1 Those were not the terms we used but you get the idea. And we used playing cards for narrowing down each number. Finally, our heads fuzzy and our eyes blurry, we made our way to the convenience store with just minutes left. In this particular store, we had to manually darken circles for each number. By the time we were done, got up to the register and gave our sheet to the clerk, were told we had to wait because “something was running.” Then, after it ran, she announced it was 10 o’clock and she couldn’t sell any more tickets. We all thought that was really strange. But maybe, we rationalized, it was the Universe telling us that those numbers were not for that night, Saturday night, but for Wednesday night. So, Joshua went the next day and bought those same numbers for Wednesday’s drawing. As you might have guessed by now, we didn’t win. But if you compare our numbers to the winning numbers, they were eerily close. Sure, close doesn’t count. But close is a really good place to be. It means we were on to something. We just needed more practice. About a week later, Joshua started sending me emails late one night with practice exercises. One after another, as soon as I completed one, I got another. This went on til about 1:30 in the morning. Here’s what he surmised: that for all the amazing details I hit on, he felt that it was more telepathy than remote viewing. I had to agree. Back to the drawing board. And then today (Jan. 18), just one day before this column is due, I get an amazing email saying that Joshua is hosting an event in Las Vegas and guess who’s going to be teaching remote viewing techniques? Why, it’s our new pal, Colonel Alexander, who taught it to Joshua, who then taught it to me, who was played in the movie by George Clooney. This is such synchronicity! Joshua says I manifested all this with my last column and my desire to learn this technique. Maybe I did. But I still think I can learn more and so can you. Remote viewing is not only for psychic people. Anyone can learn it. I can already hear some of you now. I know that for the more spiritually minded of you, you’ve been taught that making money off of your gift is taboo. Yet it’s perfectly okay for Michael Jordan or any number of
‘A Turnpike Sunset’
A vocal quintet from the Glenn Miller Orchestra excelled with its harmony and showmanship. with the music of TUSK, billed as “the Ultimate Fleetwood Mac Tribute Band.” As for Comedy Classic Weekend, the twos and two nights of laughter will feature what is billed as featuring “a zany cast of characters all weekend, headlined by the hlarious Michael Ian Black.
other incredibly talented people to use their gifts and make money off of it? What kind of b******t is that? We make our own reality. And if your reality is a ton of money, you can do some incredible things for other people and help to lift them up to change their reality. • Shelley Wright, an Asheville native, is a paranormal investigator. She owns and runs the web-based Nevermore Mystical Arts and works at Wright’s Coin Shop, both in Asheville.
Continued from Page B1 According to him, usage of the Turnpike declined during the Civil War due to a labor shortage and an economic depression due to the Union occupation. The fate of the Turnpike, says the Preacher, was sealed in 1880 when the railroad came through Asheville. For capacity crowds of 40 each night in the 35 Below section of ACT, history came also through true from life songs written and performed by Godleski. In “The Gallows,” a man sentenced to hang sits in jail while a gallows is being built while in “Old Man Mule,” a man murders his abusive son-in-law and then gets off scot-free. The music, including two more murder ballads and a gospel song by Godleski, highlighted the 90-minute production, directed by Mary Ann Heinen. Corn cob pipe in mouth, David Hyatt’s Silas character accompanied the vocals on banjo. In addition to Ezra’s spirited singing, Silas chimes in with “Dixie,” while Jesse, played by Henry Callahan, adds adolescent versions of “Froggy Went A Couting” and “Get A Long Little Cindy.” Callahan is a 12-year-old seventh-grader at Asheville Middle School. Godleski himself also is a teaching assistant at Claxton Elementary school. He’s written several other plays that have been staged at the Folk Art Center. He’s at work on “The Sparrow and the Woodpile,” a drama about an elderly man with a sharp mind, but debili-
tated body, confined to a nursing home. The Buncombe Turnpike band, with Godleski on bass and lead vocals, has been playing traditional bluegrass music for 20 years. The group has recorded six CDs and tours regionally. In 2007, accompanying a team of Mars Hill cloggers, the group performed in Spain. Hyatt, who plays mandolin in the band in A Turnpike Sunset, plays a homemade banjo named Mae in honor of his grandmother. It features a Goodwill-purchased soup bowl and dinner fork bridge. The 150-year-old neck, he explained, was purchased from a woman that puts old banjo parts on eBay.” Also playing on Buncombe Turnpike recordings and performances is Don Lewis, who also performs with The Sons of Ralph, local bluegrass icons. His father, Ralph Lewis, who played with Bill Monroe, died in 2017 at the age of 90. “We decided to keep the name and keep going,” Lewis said. “We are the sons of Ralph.”
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Busted pipes • Roofs, windows and doors • Demolition Reasonable. 246-2934
B8 - February 2018 - Asheville Daily Planet