(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . DKos Asheville Open Thread: Reparations, Habitat, Homeless, Water, Camps and Turtles [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-04 Mountain Express, 2/4/2023 On the same night the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will issue its proclamation for Black Legacy Month, its members will consider a move to support the future of the area’s Black population. The board is scheduled to vote on approving a racial equity audit of Asheville and Buncombe government at its meeting of Tuesday, Feb. 7. The audit was formally requested by the city’s Community Reparations Commission on Dec. 5. Its goal would be to ensure that the city and county are compliant with “federal and state laws, regulatory bodies, codes of conduct, court orders and consent degrees” meant to avoid “harm or threats to African Americans.” The resolution to be considered by the board says the county will ensure “necessary and reasonable action will be taken to address intentional and unintentional harm committed against the African American community.” It would also direct County Manager Avril Pinder to partner with the city and reparations commission in defining a formal scope of work for the audit. Asheville City Council adopted a similar resolution Jan. 24. County and city staff intend to finalize the audit’s scope by Monday, March 20, and select an outside firm to conduct the audit by the end of spring. WLOS, David Plunkett, 2/3/2023 Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity is coming up on a major milestone. The nonprofit is marking 40 years of helping people realize the dream of owning their own home. This Habitat affiliate was the first in North Carolina -- and now there are more than 60 across the state. It served all of western North Carolina when it first started, but now focuses on Buncombe and Madison counties. Asheville's Habitat raises money through its ReStores, the Warren Haynes Christmas Jam and donations. MORE THAN THE MUSIC: 'CHRISTMAS JAM' HELPS FUND ASHEVILLE-AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY HOMES "The magic of Habitat is the idea of bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope -- that's really what's at the center of Habitat's mission statement; giving people a platform to come out and do what you see in the background," said Andy Barnett, executive director of Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity. "Put your heart and your hands into solving this community challenge of affordable housing." The anniversary date is Saturday, Feb. 11. On that day, the Habitat ReStores will hold a "Where's Waldo?" contest, offering a 40% discount to those who "find" him. Mountain Express, Jessica Wakeman, 2/1/2023 According to Ann Oliva, Asheville and Buncombe County could reduce homelessness by 50% in two years — if they heed the recommendations laid out by her organization, the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit National Alliance to End Homelessness. Oliva, the nonprofit’s CEO, made that claim as she presented a new report commissioned by the city of Asheville. City Council and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners met in joint session Jan. 25 to hear the findings at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville. “Within Reach: Ending Unsheltered Homelessness in the Asheville-Buncombe [Continuum of Care]” draws on months of research, online surveys, focus groups and interviews with residents. Josh Johnson, a researcher with NATEH, says the nonprofit’s team engaged with over 1,700 people, including more than 250 people who had personal experience with homelessness. Of those respondents, 65% identified as property owners, and 14% identified as business owners. NATEH’s report identified the top concerns that community members have regarding homelessness. These issues include “a lack of trust in the system,” “concern about the effectiveness of the current homeless strategy,” “public safety concerns” (including from people who are currently homeless), “insufficient affordable housing” and “uncoordinated care and services within a cumbersome system,” Johnson says. Asheville Watchdog, John Boyle, 2/2/2023 While the great holiday season water outage of 2022-23 may seem like an extraordinary event in Asheville’s history, the city has a deep and troubling history of water woes. In fact, the origin dates to the Great Depression and the mountain town’s insistence on paying off a massive debt load while ignoring infrastructure needs. In the middle part of the 20th century, the city even funneled some water revenues toward the Depression-era debt, which was finally paid off in 1976. The most recent outage, which left tens of thousands of customers without water and spanned 11 days over Christmas and New Year’s, was precipitated by a severe three-day cold event. Throughout the system, 27 city-owned waterlines broke, and when the city turned to its Mills River water plant to produce water, workers found it frozen. Engineering experts say infrastructure issues, a lack of preparation and a poor response to the crisis played key roles in the debacle. It is worth noting that the Water Resources Department’s “tabletop” emergency exercise in early December involved a tropical storm deluge scenario, not a cold weather event. Asheville’s history includes a series of water failures and outages, ranging from a weeklong outage caused by a tropical storm in 2004 to more than 720 “boil water advisories” in various parts of the city between 2017 and 2021, usually caused by waterline breaks or other troubles. In 1995, city leaders and water officials lamented that one-fourth of the water produced at the city’s two main reservoirs, North Fork and Bee Tree, leaked into the ground because of old and faulty pipes.Our WNC Parent, 2/2/2023 Day camps offer a chance to pursue interests, learn something new and even keep up with academics. Don’t delay – camps often fill up quickly. Day camps offer children a chance to pursue their interests, learn something new and even keep up with academics. Research your family’s options and don’t delay in reaching out – camps often fill up quickly. Remember that programs, schedules, prices, and more are all subject to change. Contact camp organizers directly for details and updates. Day Camps (Alphabetical, short example of over 100 listings) ABYSA, FUNdamentals Soccer Camp, abysa.org, 828-299-7277, 593 Azalea Road E., Asheville. ABYSA’s FUNdamentals Soccer Camp offers a games-centered teaching approach to soccer education, creating an exciting and entertaining environment designed to boost player learning. Adventure Center of Asheville, ashevilletreetopsadventurepark.com/camps, 828-225-2921, 85 Expo Drive, Asheville. Adventure Camp Exploration Program – Ages 11 – 13, weekly June 12 – Aug. 7, 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. Adventure Camp – Ages 8 – 10, weekly June 12 – Aug. 7, 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. Angel Art Studios Art Camp with Molly Angel, mollyangel.com, 828-681-0106, 15 Hickory Drive, Fletcher. Ages 6 – 13. Weeklong Art Camp for young artists to learn drawing, painting, collage, clay and much more. Classes are 2 hours a day, Monday – Friday. Camp is $125. June 26 – 30. Asheville Community Theatre Tanglewood Summer Camp, ashevilletheatre.org/education/summer-camp, 828-254-1320, 35 E. Walnut St., Asheville. Summer Stages Session II: MAGIC! –June 19-23. Discover the magic of theatre in a full week of creative play, theatre games, singing, dancing, and more. Summer Conservatory – July 10-14. Develop your dance skills, expand your vocal repertoire, speak with industry professionals, and collaborate on a cabaret to showcase your talents for your friends and family on the last day of camp. Summer Musical: Seussical Jr. – July 24 – 28 and July 31 – Aug. 4. Best described as Summer Stock for Youth, Summer Musicals are fast-paced, energetic rehearsal days that culminate in three public performances on the last day of camp. Summer Musical – Tech Camp – July 24 – 28 and July 31 – Aug. 4. Work side by side with ACT tech professionals to create costumes, props, and more that make up the Jungle of Nool and Whoville! Asheville Art Museum Summer Art Camp, ashevilleart.org, 828-253-3227, 2 S. Pack Square, Asheville. Ages 5 – 18. Camp is offered to rising grades kindergarten – 12. Weekly sessions are offered June 19 – Aug. 7. All classes are age appropriate. Sessions include drawing, painting, mixed-media, and more. Citizen Times, Francis Figart, 2/4/2023 My neighbor has a special affinity for turtles. For years, whenever he saw a box turtle on the highway or crossing a secondary road, he would not just move it off the pavement, he would put it into his truck, take it home to his large, old farm property in East Tennessee, and there release it into a safe, new habitat far from all but a few winding country roads. After many years of bringing home turtles, he noticed he was seeing more and more of them when out working in the woods and fields. He wondered if he had created a little population of them on his land. He also wondered, though, whether it could be somehow detrimental to the turtles to move them. I decided to investigate their natural history to see what could be learned. The eastern box turtle is the most terrestrial species of turtle in Appalachia. When I was growing up in eastern Kentucky, we used to call them “terrapins.” But that term actually applies to aquatic species and now refers mostly to one called the diamondback terrapin found in marshy areas along the coast. According to “Reptiles and Amphibians of the Smokies” (Great Smoky Mountains Association, 2001), “Eastern box turtles spend the warm months wandering the woodlands and are especially active after rains. During dry periods they often bury themselves in mucky areas, with only the tops of their shells exposed. The approximate dates of hibernation are from the first frost in the fall until the last frost in the spring.” NOTE from randallt I relocated this little girl after I almost got her with a weed eater. She was so tiny, I thought she was a walnut. That was five years ago, and just look at her now. Mallory Thank you for reading and contributing to this weekly report. I hope you have a fine weekend. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/4/2151062/-DKos-Asheville-Open-Thread-Reparations-Habitat-Homeless-Water-Camps-and-Turtles Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/