Stories and news from The Urban News in Asheville, North Carolina http://www.theurbannews.com Sun, 27 May 2012 12:09:06 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 Subscribe with My Yahoo!Subscribe with NewsGatorSubscribe with My AOLSubscribe with BloglinesSubscribe with NetvibesSubscribe with GoogleSubscribe with Pageflakes http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/9wAhv0XP6Io/index.php Become a Firefighter, visit www.ashevillenc.gov/jobs (http://www.ashevillenc.gov/jobs) for more details. Fri, 18 May 2012 14:27:22 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1771&Itemid=77 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/g-gDNB1dyQY/index.php Buncombe County Health Human Service Job Opportunity Do you want to support the children in our community?Do you want to help make families stronger? Do you want to make a difference? If so, consider a career as a Social Worker for Family Children Services! As part of our on-going recruitment, the purpose of this advertisement is to create a pool of ready applicants to fill Social Worker vacancies in Family and Children Services at Buncombe County Department of Social Services. JOB DESCRIPTION: Social Workers for Family and Children Services implement mandated service programs to assist in: (1) the protection of children, (2) the preservation of the family unit, and/or (3) the provision of an alternative permanent plan in the child's best interest. The Foster Care/Adoptions Social Worker provides direct services to children and their parents and other caretakers in response to instances of actual or suspected child neglect, abuse, or dependency. Fri, 11 May 2012 13:54:29 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1770&Itemid=77 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/dOi42rRSlF0/index.php Buncombe County Health Human Service Job Opportunity JOB DESCRIPTION: The Income Maintenance Caseworker's (IMC) II primary responsibility is to correctly determine a customer's eligibility for Public Assistance Programs, to monitor continual compliance with all program requirements, to respond to the customer's request for assistance regarding their eligibility or other personal matters during the time the case is open through termination or when the client is no longer eligible. Public Assistance programs must be explained to the applicants and all information required must be documented. Fri, 11 May 2012 13:51:14 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1769&Itemid=77 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/mNs7kK6mioM/index.php Buncombe County Health Human Service Job Opportunity Do you want to support the children in our community? Do you want to help make families stronger? Do you want to make a difference? If so, consider a career as a Social Worker for Family Children Services! As part of our continuous recruitment, this advertisement is to create a pool of ready applicants to fill Social Worker vacancies in Family and Children Services at Buncombe County Department of Social Services. Applications are pulled every two weeks. JOB DESCRIPTION: Social Workers for Family and Children Services implement mandated service programs to assist in: (1) the protection of children, (2) the preservation of the family unit, and/or (3) the provision of an alternative permanent plan in the child's best interest. Services that are provided to families and children include Prevention, Investigation, Case Planning/Case Management, Foster Care and/or Adoption. Fri, 11 May 2012 13:46:32 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1768&Itemid=77 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/S9Sy37GfEpQ/index.php Fri, 11 May 2012 13:27:08 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1767&Itemid=82 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/w98aQNx9gT8/index.php Our Living Treasures still have a passion for life and continue to stay active. This shot captures the three engaged in conversation about their pet projects. Sara’s (standing, center) is quilting, Dr. Wilson’s (right) passion is gardening, and Matthew Bacoate (left), enjoys community engagements and golfing. Photo: Urban News Staff ReportsThe Asheville Living Treasures program has announced the Spring, 2012 living treasures: Matthew Bacoate Jr., Sara Hill, and Dr. John Wilson. Their biographies and oral histories will join those of previous laureates housed in the Special Collections Department of Ramsey Library at UNC Asheville. The three honorees will be formally recognized May 20, 2012 in a public ceremony at from 1-3 p.m. at the First Congregational United Church of Christ on Woodfin Street in Asheville. Asheville Living Treasures was established in 2010 to honor elders of Asheville and Buncombe County who have devoted their lives to making our community a better place to live. The volunteer program is led by Carol Anders along with founding members Carmen Ramos Kennedy, Donna Schutt, and Marnie Walsh For more information visit our website at ashevillelivingtreasures.com (http://www.ashevillelivingtreasures.com) . Fri, 11 May 2012 13:25:40 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1766&Itemid=8 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/KkTHSzWor6w/index.php Older Americans Month is celebrated each May to honor and recognize older Americans for the contributions they make to our families, communities and society. This year’s theme of “Never Too Old to Play” encourages older Americans to stay engaged, active, and involved in their own lives and in their communities. Older Americans Month was established in 1963, when only 17 million Americans had reached their 65th birthdays. About a third of older Americans lived in poverty, and there were few programs to meet their needs. Interest in older Americans and their concerns was growing, however. In April of 1963, President John F. Kennedy’s meeting with the National Council of Senior Citizens served as a prelude to designating May as Senior Citizens Month. Fri, 11 May 2012 13:20:31 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1765&Itemid=8 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/YCMtyw_ZMQM/index.php Matthew Bacoate Jr. Photo: Urban News By Marnie WalshMatthew Bacoate was born on February 10, 1930 in Asheville, to Osie and Matthew Bacoate, Sr. Matthew Sr. was from the Darlington, SC area and Osie from Rock Hill, SC; on moving to Asheville in 1927 they changed the spelling of the family name from Bacote to Bacoate. Segregation, Jim Crow laws, and the Ku Klux Klan limited opportunities for blacks in the South, yet Matthew Sr. was enterprising, operating at various times a restaurant, a janitorial service, a cement block business, and an ice cream shop. His mother was a teacher, then a cosmetologist. Matthew, Jr., the oldest of three children, attended Allen Home Elementary School and the now historic Stephens Lee High School in Asheville. Fri, 11 May 2012 13:19:12 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1764&Itemid=8 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/TMAN5GGtrEU/index.php Sara Hill Photo: Urban News By Marnie WalshSara Hill was born July 7, 1934 in Fayetteville, to Thomas English Hill and Sara Prather Armfield Hill. Her family moved throughout the South during her childhood in conjunction with her father’s Presbyterian ministry, which also provided them a link to Montreat, NC. The family spent many summer vacations at the church-owned mountain retreat, and her family later purchased a home among other relatives there. In 1956 she graduated from Macalester College with a degree in sociology, and earned an MSW from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1958. After being awarded a fellowship at the Topeka, KS-based Menninger Clinic, which became an internationally renowned treatment and training center in psychiatry and mental health, she became a full-time employee there. She stayed thirty years, working as a clinical social worker and as director of the children’s division, before retiring to Buncombe County in 1993. Fri, 11 May 2012 13:17:46 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1763&Itemid=8 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/wKZ0iy7kyy8/index.php Dr. John Wilson Photo: Urban News By Marnie WalshDr. John Wilson is the son of missionaries, and he has dedicated his life to enriching the quality of life for individuals and communities, locally and internationally, as a physician, missionary, soldier, educator, humanitarian, and volunteer. His mother, Bess Knox Wilson, and father, Dr. Robert Manton Wilson, met and married in Korea, and John was born there May 29, 1916. His father became a pioneer in the treatment of leprosy and established Korea’s largest leprosy hospital. Fri, 11 May 2012 13:16:01 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1762&Itemid=8 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/0vETHEaya5w/index.php This Sunday, May 13 from 4 to 6 p.m. the Women’s Wellbeing and Development Foundation (WWDF) will host its second annual “Mother’s Day at the Spa” at the Carl E. Johnson Community Center in Hillcrest. The free event will feature professional massage therapists, professional acupuncturists, fresh herbal facials, herbal tea-making, nail care, and service information from Our Voice, HelpMate, and Mountain Biz Works. There will also be refreshments, childcare, prizes, and giveaways of live plants and seeds. Fri, 11 May 2012 13:12:23 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1761&Itemid=61 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/pL2qeNRCVJo/index.php Gwendolyn Robinson-Atkinson Staff ReportsGwendolyn Robinson-Atkinson is a native of Asheville, NC, and the sister of Robert Clifton Robinson Jr., a Tuskegee Airman. Ms. Atkinson is a graduate of Stephens-Lee High School, Class of 1942, a graduate of North Carolina College, in Durham, and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. After graduating from the school, Ms. Atkinson became a teacher herself at Stephens-Lee from 1945 to 1950. During her tenure the principal was Mr. Toliver, and some of her fellow educators, as she recalls, included Ms. Ruth Carolina in English, Ms. Ollie Reynolds in Music, Ms. Dusenberry in Science, Ms. Lucille Burton in Social Studies, and Mr. Lacy Haith in Occupational Studies. Fri, 11 May 2012 13:11:04 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1760&Itemid=61 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/ldoq03KgSjQ/index.php At an all-school assembly, Evergreen executive director Susan Gottfried leads a cheer for winning the Green Ribbon School Award. Staff ReportsU.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the first-ever list of Green Ribbon Schools, comprising 78 schools in 29 states and the District of Columbia. Evergreen Community Charter School is one of two schools in North Carolina to win this prestigious award; the other is the American Hebrew Academy in Greensboro. “Environmental responsibility is part of our mission and is reflected in every aspect of our school – the way we teach, our community outreach, upgrades to our physical plant, and our school culture of energy conservation and environmental awareness,” explained Susan Gottfried, Evergreen’s executive director. “We are honored to be nationally recognized for our efforts.” Fri, 11 May 2012 13:08:14 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1759&Itemid=82 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/OnEdgmqvcRQ/index.php Maceo Z. Keeling, executive committee member-at-large for Asheville SCORE. By Maceo KeelingHave you got a lot of business savvy? Ever consider volunteering your time and business insight to help your community to prosper? Want to make a difference in our national economy? Consider Asheville SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), whose members are the counselors to America’s small-business community. The Asheville Chapter is part of a national nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education. We recognize that we have to think nationally, but act locally. Fri, 11 May 2012 13:03:18 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1758&Itemid=13 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/0dJnZLQNYu8/index.php Pictured (L-R) are: Rosie Harrell, wife of the late Judge Robert L. Harrell; Attorney Carol Goins, NCCU Law graduate and secretary of the scholarship fund; Attorney Martha McGlohon, wife of the late Attorney Howard McGlohon, and attorney for the City of Asheville. Back row: Judge J. Calvin Hill, NCCU Law graduate; Attorney Garrett Arts, NCCU Law graduate; Attorney Gene Ellison, NCCU Law graduate and founder of the WNC NCCU Law Chapter and Scholarship Fund; Attorney Bill Christy, NCCU Law graduate and past president of the Buncombe County Bar Association; and Attorney Raymond Pierce Pierce, Dean, NCCU School of Law. Photo: Urban News Staff ReportsThe Western North Carolina chapter of the NC Central University School of Law Alumni recently held this year’s scholarship luncheon, named in honor of two notable alumni and jurists: the late Judge Robert L. Harrell and attorney Howard McGlohon, who died in February, 2010. Judge Harrell was the first African American judge in Buncombe County, appointed to the bench by Governor Jim Hunt in 1983. Attorney McGlohon, a long-time law practitioner, served as an assistant district attorney for Buncombe County before starting his own law practice. The “Distinguished Law Alumni Award” was presented to the Honorable J. Calvin Hill, the first African American to be appointed President of the Buncombe County Bar Association, and the first African American Chief 28th District Court Judge appointed by Chief Justice Sarah Parker of the NC Supreme Court. Fri, 11 May 2012 13:01:10 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1757&Itemid=13