Leslee Kulba
Storm Chaos: 236K Without Service, Roads and Water in Crisis!
Two weeks after the hurricane, many people remain without modern technology in one form or another. Posted here are a smattering of updates, reassurances, and requests from providers.
8,590 Without Power in WNC: Duke Energy Addresses Recovery Efforts
Bill Norton from Duke Energy encourages those still without power to hang in there because help is on the way. He explains some reasons for delays and shares some interesting stories of what he has seen while on the ground in WNC.
Helene’s Agricultural Impact in and around Buncombe
Buncombe County's livestock were not hit hard by the storm, mainly because there are very few large farms within the county lines. Haywood County had it worse. In Henderson County, over half the year's apple crop was destroyed. Madison County's ag extension could not be reached by phone.
LOTSAR, Supporting Research to Increase Affordable Housing Stock
LOTSAR is supporting a variety of research projects that inform public policy decisions about which strategies will be effective in creating more affordable housing.
Abortion Rights to Foster Care: Buncombe County’s Health Advocacy Updates
Lucy Lawrence, MSW, PhD, described a hectic two years as chair of Buncombe County's HHS board. It was a time of legislative turmoil in the setting of a protracted pandemic.
Brunk Auctioning Rare Copy of US Constitution
Two years ago, a ratification copy of the US Constitution, along with other documents of historic significance, were surprisingly found in a drawer in a storage room of an estate that had already donated the materials from its library to the State of North Carolina. Asheville's own Brunk Auctions is now handling the auction of these materials.
Prepping Always in Style at Carolina Readiness Supply
Few lives are immune to disaster. The prepper's question is: When it strikes, do you want to be a helper or a victim? The Sterretts at Carolina Readiness Supply in Waynesville sell a lot of prepper supplies and help people who may be anxious about starting to find ways they can become more self-sufficient at their own pace.
How Badly Do We Want Affordable Housing? Not Bad Enough
Barry Bialik, a champion of Asheville's affordable housing community, proposed a couple amendments to the UDO that could facilitate the construction of 200 small homes. Consistent with council's reputation for putting the kibosh on applications for affordable housing, the public hearing was continued into next year.
Buncombe Commissioners Chew the Fat
The Buncombe County Commissioners were put in the awkward position of weighing in on whether or not the county's insurance plan should continue to cover GLP-1s. USI, a health insurance consultant retained by the county, said that beyond the instant gratification and celebrity hoopla is a ridiculously overpriced and high-risk drug. They said the county already had half a dozen equally effective weight loss drugs in its formulary that cost less than 10% and did not come with as many adverse side effects.
Preliminary Analysis of Merrimon Road Diet
Overall accident rates are up, travel times are slightly slower, and traffic is spilling over onto alternative north-south passageways. Still, the NCDOT is preliminarily calling the Merrimon Avenue road diet a success.