Good day and welcome to DKos Asheville. This is the weekly DKos Asheville Open Thread for Saturday, October 29th, 2022.
We offer this space every weekend to give readers a variety of links to local and regional news of interest, and open the floor for comment and discussion. Wishing all a good day from beautiful Western North Carolina.
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Nice to be back after a weekend away.
Please jump the fold for links to stories and election resources.
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Mountain Express, Daniele Walton, 10/29/2022
Tensions were high heading into the Oct. 14 forum for Buncombe County Board of Education candidates. The previous afternoon, Kim Plemmons and Rob Elliot had announced they would pull out of the event, being hosted at Black Wall Street AVL in partnership with Mountain Xpress.
Plemmons and Elliot, registered Democrats running for the Erwin and Reynolds district seats in the nonpartisan race, cited recent social media posts by Erwin District candidate and registered Republican Greg Parks, saying their campaigns had concluded the forum “could present public safety issues.” Plemmons in particular referenced a comment Parks had posted on a video by Chad Nesbitt of Skyline News, which stated if “you want to see a fighter, come to [the forum] Friday night.”
The roughly 30 people who attended the forum did see Parks and Democratic Reynolds District candidate Sara Disher Ratliff take to the floor — not as fighters, but as dancers. Moderator Aisha Adams opened the event by blasting DJ Casper’s wedding-reception classic, “Cha Cha Slide,” and inviting the two hopeful leaders to show that they could follow instructions as well.
Once Parks and Ratliff had finished sliding to the left, sliding to the right and crisscrossing, the two settled down to answer questions about a race with importance to county voters of all political persuasions. The seven-member school board, on which three seats are contested this year, oversees education for over 22,000 students in Western North Carolina’s largest school district.
WLOS, Kari Barros, 10/12/2022
Election Day, Nov. 8, is just around the corner. Here's a breakdown of what you need to know, county-to-county, across Western North Carolina.
Voter registration, voting by mail & early voting
If you would like to register to vote in North Carolina, CLICK HERE for more information from the State Board of Elections. The voter registration deadline is Oct. 14, 2022 for general elections taking place on Nov. 8, 2022. After Oct. 14, 2022, only same-day registration during one-stop early voting is available.
Meet the candidates (U.S. Senate)
All registered North Carolina voters will have the ability to vote in the U.S. Senate race, deciding who will take the seat of Sen. Richard Burr, who announced in 2016 that he would not be seeking reelection in 2022. Here's a breakdown for each candidate:
Cheri Beasley (Democratic Party)
Ted Budd (Republican Party)
Matthew Hoh (Green Party)
Shannon Bray (Libertarian Party)
Michelle Lewis (Independent, write-in)
Meet the candidates (U.S. House, NC-11)
Registered voters in Western North Carolina's 11th Congressional District will have the ability to vote in the U.S. House of Representatives race. Here's a breakdown for each candidate:
Jasmine Beach-Ferrara (Democratic Party)
Chuck Edwards (Republican Party)
David Coatney (Libertarian Party)
ELECTION INFORMATION ACROSS WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
(Click on each county for the county's Board of Elections website)
Avery County (part of NC District 5)
Buncombe County
Cherokee County
Clay County
Graham County
Haywood County
Henderson County
Jackson County
Macon County
Madison County
McDowell County
Mitchell County (part of NC District 5)
Polk County
Rutherford County (portion included in Congressional District 11)
Swain County
Transylvania County
Yancey County
Cirtizen-Times, Matthew Gilmer, 10/28/2022
When tickets began to sell for The Orange Peel’s upcoming 20th anniversary celebration, it was obvious that both shows would be packed.
The venue, which opened Oct. 25, 2002, had long ago established itself as one of the nation’s top spaces to hear music and the back-to-back nights of rapper and producer Big Boi (who is also known for his time in OutKast), who will perform at 8 p.m. Oct. 28, and string band Old Crow Medicine Show, which will play at 8 p.m. Oct. 29, is just another showcase of expected performances at the downtown club.
"We wanted to do something special for Asheville and we didn’t want this very special moment to pass us by and it just kind of worked out. A little bit magic, you know?” said Jeff Santiago, one of the venue’s operating partners, of featured performers. “The best of both worlds -- one of the biggest hip hop and pop stars around and then Old Crow, just representing that whole Americana-bluegrass vibe that WNC is so well known for.
“I was working the box, when these went on sale, and there's plenty of people buying tickets for both. Asheville has a great general music fan base, and they dig it all.”
Asheville live music best bets: A McDonald's-Black Sabbath mashup for Halloween, more
WNC Parent, Chris Worthy, 10/26/2022
Big list of seasonal adventures
Plan your week ahead with WNC Parent
This is the weekend – Halloween fun is everywhere. Find plenty to do below and in our full October calendar at
wncparent.com. In the week ahead, look for November’s events, parent breaks, features and more. Stay in touch on social media @wncparent, and get your organization’s family-friendly events on our calendar by emailing
chris@worthyplace.com.
Mountain Express, Sara Murphy, 10/27/2022
If a black cat crosses your path, give it a loving home. That’s the message of Asheville nonprofit Binx’s Home for Black Cats, a rescue that focuses exclusively on fostering and adopting black cats.
Binx’s grew out of Hannah Soboleski’s personal experience fostering black cats for other local rescues and shelters. She had always had a special love for the animals, despite growing up among conventional superstitions associating black cats with bad luck and satanism. As a cat foster parent, she saw up close how many black cats came into the shelters and how long they stayed there before adoption.
Soboleski’s experience is backed up by sobering statistics. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, black cats come into shelters more often than cats of any other coat color. Once there, a 2013 study in The Open Veterinary Science Journal shows, they stay in shelters an average of six days longer than cats of other colors.
WLOS, Kelsey Sanchez, 10/28/2022
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WACH) — Hospitals in South Carolina are seeing a sharp rise in patients as multiple viruses circulate at once.
Health experts explained flu cases are spiking earlier than normal and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and Covid-19 are only making it worse, which some are calling a 'tridemic,' but the key difference is children are being affected the most.
Melanie Matney, who is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) with the South Carolina Hospital Association, said 76.68% of hospitals are filled and the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is 64.27% filled state-wide. South Carolina has four pediatric hospitals, according to Matney, and all of them are slammed.
Matney said RSC cases usually happen this time of year and primarily affects children, but the issue hospitals are facing is people are getting sicker, faster.
"What we're seeing now is really what's making this worse is, you've got, of course Covid is still out there, but the flu is happening a lot more quickly than it usually does," said Matney
Thanks for reading and contributing, I hope you have a great weekend. It was a little hot where I was last Friday.