Stories and news from The Urban News in Asheville, North Carolina http://www.theurbannews.com Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:50:41 +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/I0fApI0EZGY/index.php View Council on Aging PDF (images/stories/2009/november/council_on_aging_ad1109.pdf) Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:00:39 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=893&Itemid=5 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/OYdm-toyBs4/index.php Paula Blakely (center), a resident of the 21 Building, is helped by her mother Becky Hayes (right), and other friends to retrieve what is left of her belongings from the rubble. Paula and her husband Nakia are still looking for their pet dog. Photo: Urban News By Johnnie Grant With the holidays fast approaching, five Asheville families are trying to piece their lives back together after a morning explosion on Monday, November 9 destroyed their residences at Hillcrest Apartments. The scene was chaotic as Asheville Police and firefighters rushed to the 21 building of Hillcrest Apartments, finding the unit engulfed in flames. Neighbors who felt the impact of the explosion ran for cover while others who witnessed the incident looked on in disbelief. While some residents snapped cell-phone pictures as flames shot out of the building, traffic close by on the I-240 expressway slowed to a crawl in both directions on the Smoky Park Bridge. The blast and smoke could be seen and felt from as far away eastwards as downtown Asheville to the K-Mart Plaza a mile west on Patton Avenue. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:53:13 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=892&Itemid=8 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/Ed3OCgsUq34/index.php Gene Bell (left), Asheville Housing Authority Executive Director, and Mayor Terry Bellamy talk with Asheville Fire fighters about the Hillcrest Apartment explosion. Photo: Connie Proctor By Johnnie Grant Upon hearing of the devastating explosion and fire, the Salvation Army, Red Cross, Helping Hands, Mayor Bellamy, and Asheville City Schools officials, and social workers surrounded the scene with much needed assistance. While some residents walked the streets visibly shaken by the explosion, others visited the disaster relief command post stationed along the perimeters of the scene. Many people obtained facial masks to filter the smoke, while others gathered information, assistance, and help. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:36:29 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=891&Itemid=8 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/8FlylbYoKrg/index.php Pictured (L-R): John Smith, Western Regional VP for Progress-Carolinas, Martha Thompson, Progress Energy Community Relations Manager, Lloyd Yates, and Gene Bell, Executive Director of the Asheville Housing Authority. Photo: Michael Hopping by Michael Hopping A low-income neighborhood including the Pisgah View Apartments is the first in the Carolinas to benefit from a new energy conservation and efficiency project from Progress Energy. Neighborhood Energy Savers (NES) is designed to help low-income customers save electricity and money on power bills — at no cost to them. Progress Carolinas CEO Lloyd Yates, Congressman Heath Shuler, Mayor Terry Bellamy, and other dignitaries were on hand to launch the program at the Pisgah View Community Center on October 19. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:34:53 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=890&Itemid=8 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/FMERzyEzm80/index.php Doris Suber-Young and her brother Rev. David Suber are the owners of Daddy D’s Soul Food and Country Cooking Restaurant. Photo: Wallace Bohanan by Wallace Bohanan Just over a year and a half ago, Doris Young, David Suber, and Odell Suber Sr. took on the challenge of opening up a soul food restaurant. After years of work, the sister-and-brothers team had restored a building on Seventh Avenue in Hendersonville and turned it into a place for customers to relax and enjoy the restaurant’s wide variety of home-cooked meals. The urge to open a restaurant came from Doris, who had been catering for a number of years. She recruited her brothers David and Odell to help, and together with other family, friends, and members of the church where David pastored, they set to work. It took three years and much sacrificing to complete the restoration before they were ready to launch the business. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:31:16 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=889&Itemid=13 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/z0Vt5KBB5Lw/index.php Community members, as well as students enjoy a visit to Clemson University in South Carolina. Pictured (L-R): Dr. Gordon Grant, Principal RLC, Jordan, Travis, Moncravius, Ja’Quise, Robert, Kellie Kiely, Dr. Joe Kiely, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group, Carter, TJ, Balthazar, Ms Katherine Cope, LPC Therapist, Mr. Todd Williams, J.D. Buncombe county PD, Pj, Jade. Kneeling, Mr. Derek Edwards, Math teacher RLC, and his son Wade. Not pictured: Ms. Amanda Edwards, Director of the Literacy Council, and Ms. Nycole Howard, J.D. Photo: Eric Howard Staff reports Thanks to the generous support of Asheville residents Dr. Joe Kiely and his wife Kellie, ten Randolph Learning Center students, as well as three Randolph staff and their families, were able to attend the homecoming football game at Clemson University on Saturday, October 31. The Kielys accompanied the students on the trip and enjoyed the camaraderie of the bus ride, the overwhelmingly orange force field of college football tradition that is Clemson, and a dinner out on the way home. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:26:51 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=888&Itemid= http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/znt-aK3UcPo/index.php Student Lindsay Maurey (in yellow gown), demonstrates the procedure for dressing out in (PPE’s) Personal Protection Equipment. Observing are (L-R): Romela Goodwin BSRN Instuctor (white lab coat), Neena Whittlock, Brenda Revis, Pam Braden, Patty Saia, Nicole Smith. Back row: Wendy Goodwin RN (instructor), Melody Fisher. Photo: Urban News Staff reports In difficult economic times it can be hard to find any job, much less a well-paid career that allows you to come home from work each day knowing that you made someone’s life better. Learning the skills to become a Certified Nurses Aide can be a good way to reach that goal. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:20:42 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=887&Itemid= http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/k9u6oOGiF04/index.php Staff reports The YMI Cultural Center will host three courses during the winter and spring of 2010. All classes will meet Tuesdays, from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., January 19 through May 11, 2010. Science and Technology for Global Citizens: MLA 540 An interdisciplinary course taught by Dr. Larry Wilson, former Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UNC Asheville. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:18:45 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=886&Itemid= http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/F6cUdMVTP2A/index.php by Michael Hopping Paying with plastic has become the American way. In good economic times most people were able to deal with high credit-card interest rates and shovelfuls of fees and penalty charges. But financial distress changes many things. Since the U.S. Supreme Court essentially deregulated credit card interest rates in 1978, the game has been about offering cards to almost anyone, regardless of credit risk. Personal bankruptcies had already quadrupled by the mid-1990s, paralleling the rise in consumer debt associated with credit cards and related products. Banks offset these losses by increasing interest rates and transaction fees as they saw fit. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:16:13 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=885&Itemid=10 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/HPrUelg7pl8/index.php Reverend James S. Abbott, pastor. By Reverend James S. Abbott Religion is a dangerous thing. (That should get your attention! Not exactly something you’d expect a preacher to say, is it?) Like any powerful force — such as fire or money or technology or sex — it can be used for good or ill. At its best, religion calls forth the highest and noblest in people; it creates strong families and moral individuals; it redeems people from sin and degradation; it uplifts communities; it unites people to God and one another. At its worst, it creates fear and/or self-righteousness; it beats people either up or down; it leads to wars and persecutions; it divides rather than unites the peoples of the world. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:11:19 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=884&Itemid=7 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/ZcER-1p7aFk/index.php Download PDF Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:08:34 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=883&Itemid=5 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/A5nh3sXVLcg/index.php Sallie Peace-Graves, determined, ambitious, and talented. by Sarah Williams The fascinating life of Sallie Peace-Graves Sallie Peace-Graves has a brilliant smile and a kind hello for everybody. Countless Asheville High School graduates remember her as Mrs. Graves, who walked the halls giving good advice to students. But students often don’t know much else about their teachers, and in the case of Mrs. Graves, there’s a lot to learn, beginning with her childhood in Henderson, N.C. “I lived in a house with no running water,” she recalls. “Our bathroom was on the back porch. I took a bath in a tin tub after heating the water on top of the stove. I picked blackberries along the highways and in the bushes. I sold those blackberries for 25 cents a quart after picking all day. I walked the streets and sold butter beans for 25 cents a quart.” Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:04:00 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=882&Itemid=10 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/y5nVLE8zctg/index.php Dr. Errington Thompson Maybe I’m wrong, but it sure seems like times have changed. At the risk of sounding like one of those old-timers in the movie Barbershop, it seems that words like “integrity,” “honesty,” and “truth” have lost their meaning. As the two major parties clash over everything from healthcare to Afghanistan to global warming, it seems that they can’t even agree on the basic facts. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:00:33 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=881&Itemid=9 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/LykJ9yT6qac/index.php Click for PDF Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:55:27 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=880&Itemid=5 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheUrbanNews/~3/CcnQuoVztoA/index.php Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide By Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn Mr. Kristof and Ms. Wudunn’s coverage of the Democracy movement in China won them the first Pulitzer Prize ever awarded to a married couple. Their new book (they also collaborated on China Wakes) shows direct correlations between blatant misogyny and the routine and extreme violence against women around the globe. In Half the Sky the authors look at everything from the selling of Asian and Eastern European girls to brothels, to a worldwide lack of medical care — which is gender-linked in many African and Asian nations and annually leads to hundreds of thousands of deaths — to “bride-burning,” acid attacks, and other mutilation of women who refuse to accept the status quo. Importantly, Half the Sky strikes the right balance between outrage and hope, offering suggestions as to what we here in America can do. Knopf, 294 pages Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:46:56 +0100 http://www.theurbannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=879&Itemid=10