Begin forwarded message:
From: Mountain Xpress <calendar@mountainx.com>
Date: April 10, 2024 at 2:00:20 PM EDT
To: Reader <peteandtess@gmail.com>
Subject: Veterans Healing Farm searches for new site in Henderson County
Reply-To: Mountain Xpress <calendar@mountainx.com>
Veterans Healing Farm searches for new site in Henderson County
In a recent Xpress article, reporter Greg Parlier dove into the issue of local school library book bans. His reporting found:
- Until recently, local school districts had largely avoided the national wave of book bans.
- But by November, 20 books had been challenged by a group of parents at Enka High School who wanted the titles removed from the school media center because of subject matter ranging from sex and gender identity issues to prostitution, suicide and drug use.
- Four of those books have been banned from the shelves of Enka High School, one of which — Tricks, by Ellen Hopkins — was pulled from all Buncombe County schools.
- "School personnel and staff should not be the ones making the decisions on what modern, real-world, social and even local issues that students [and] teenagers should be exposed to, nor how they are exposed to them," wrote one parent in appealing Enka High's decision to keep Shine by Lauren Myracle on the shelf. "That is a parent's decision."
- The district's policy, however, states: "While input from the community may be sought, the board believes professional educators are in the best position to determine whether a particular instructional material is appropriate for the age and maturity of the students and for the subject matter being taught."
- And Mitchell Cohen, a junior at Nesbitt Discovery Academy, tells Xpress: "We're not too young to be exposed to things outside of books. We have to deal with so many difficult things. [Some classmates have] friends who are dying from COVID or suicide. If we are able to cope with those things, we're old enough to cope with a book."
Readers, what do you think? Are parents or educators better suited to determine what books are allowed in local school libraries? Is the current system that allows parents to challenge books working well? Should students also have a say in what books they and their peers are allowed to access at school?
Please share your views on this or other local civic issues via letters@mountainx.com, with guidelines found here.
Thanks for reading,
— Tracy Rose, Opinion editor
trose@mountainx.com
Veterans Healing Farm searches for new site in Henderson County
In January, the Veterans Healing Farm, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the mental health of veterans and their families, received notice that it must find a new location by Thursday, Aug. 15. According to its operations director, Air Force veteran Megan Landreth, the move is an opportunity for the farm to find its "forever home."
The current 1.77-acre property in Hendersonville has worked well since the Veterans Healing Farm was founded by John and Nicole Mahshie in 2013. The farm has since grown to four staff members and 300 volunteers. But, Landreth explains, "This is a space that we've inherited, and we've outgrown it."
The site has sparse room for parking and only two portable toilets serving as restrooms, and it relies on well water. "We need indoor space and multiple classroom spaces," Landreth continues. "Our newsletter will go out this weekend, and before the end of the week, we'll have workshops that are full for May. We need a bigger area."The Veterans Healing Farm is seeking to raise $5 million to purchase a new property and expand its offerings year-round, says Marine Corps veteran and Executive Director Alan Yeck. Currently, the nonprofit has raised half a million dollars. Read more here.
Also good to know today:
Fletcher food hall: Later this month, HenDough Chicken and Donuts and KO Restaurant Group owners Sarah and Paul Klaassen, along with business partner Michael Olbrantz, plan to open Auction House Food & Drink Hall in a historic building in Fletcher. The group has completely renovated the two-story former auction house at 29 Fanning Bridge Road and added a large deck as well as an outdoor seating and recreation area with a stage. Read more here.
Black history doc: The film documentary Black in Asheville, recounting Asheville's Black history, will be shown at the Black Wall Street Event Center on Thursday, April 11, 6-8 p.m. Bringing together Asheville historians and residents, the film transports viewers back to the antebellum period to show what life was like for slaves in Asheville. It then documents the conditions of enslaved people during the Civil War and their transition to the postbellum period of Reconstruction, Jim Crow and Black Code Laws. Read more here.
Why locals get 'emotional' about Asheville's changes
The letter to the editor attracting the most attention and comments in recent days comes from Alexander reader Troy Amastar, who writes about a recent Xpress interview with Vic Isley, president of the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority and CEO of Explore Asheville.
"Isley has a lot of gall reducing the criticisms toward the TDA to just emotional reactions. She's sure got her hands in deep in the tourist-trade money pot in her three short years living here. What does she know of the changes locals have seen in the city they have loved and lived in or nearby for decades? Where does she think those emotions rise from?
"I have lived in surrounding areas of Asheville since 1983. Asheville was pretty run-down back then. But it always had a sense of community, creativity and innovation. Indeed, entrepreneurs turned the downtown around. The River Arts District was started by artists setting up studios in abandoned old buildings and warehouses. Now they are forced out by ever-increasing rent. …
"Yeah, you bet we are emotional. We are pissed." Read more here.
Three more hot topics:
Mission's deconstruction has been a team sport
Former Asheville City Council member and local conservative figure Carl Mumpower weighs in on Asheville's hospital system, now run by HCA Healthcare.
"As the new owners of Asheville's community hospital system, HCA Healthcare's transitional misplays continue to be a source of outcry and drama," writes Mumpower.
"In the herdlike rush to condemn the new owners, the old owners, carrying substantial accountability for the mess, have largely escaped scrutiny."Opponents fail to make case against Haw Creek rezoning
Meanwhile, East Asheville reader Michael Bell suggests that opponents of a rezoning for a proposed residential development in the Haw Creek neighborhood have not been persuasive.
"Asheville desperately needs more housing," writes Bell. "This does not mean that every proposed development is a good idea, but it does mean that those who oppose a development in their neighborhood need to offer solid reasons why it would be significantly detrimental. This the opponents of The Meadows at Haw Creek have failed to do. …
"If The Meadows is built, a few people who have been lucky enough to look out at woods on others' property will instead see yards and houses, like most of the rest of us, and there will be a bit more traffic. But these are simply not good enough reasons to deny 95 middle-income families the opportunity to buy homes near jobs and amenities. As a resident of Haw Creek, I urge Asheville City Council to approve the necessary rezoning."Next up: Change Asheville's name
And West Asheville reader Fisher Caudle comments on what should happen next, now that the City of Asheville has won a court case over its deconstruction of the Vance Monument downtown.
"As Asheville has now prevailed in the legal appeal to keep the Vance Monument destroyed, even after it was recently rehabbed by the mayor's own law firm and others, the plan must now focus on the city name change," declares Caudle.
"Like many who've been waiting on the result of this ruling, we now should all agree to change the name of the City of Asheville to a newer, more modern, meaningful name that does not honor a slave owner.
"With this ruling, we must further the agenda to transform this place as only changing its name will accomplish! It can no longer be known as Asheville, named for a slave owner. The time is now."
- LIVE MUSIC | Bluegrass artist Jeremy Rilko will perform at Eda's Hide-a-Way in Weaverville. Tonight, 8 p.m.
- ART | The Asheville Art Museum will host Discovering Art in Asheville, a free public tour. Thursday, April 11, 6-7 p.m.
- WELLNESS | Pride Sports Asheville will present an open-play dodgeball event at Stephens-Lee Recreation Center. Thursday, April 11, 7 p.m.
Support Xpress' journalism here.
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