"We are approaching the peak of winter respiratory virus season and encourage people to get tested early and seek treatment as soon as they begin to develop symptoms," said Dr. Elizabeth Cuervo-Tilson, State Health Director and Chief Medical Officer for NCDHHS. "Don’t wait to seek treatment if you test positive for the flu or COVID-19, as treatments can help prevent severe illness, especially for those who are high risk of serious complications based on their age or medical conditions."
The deadline to enroll in a health insurance plan on the HealthCare.gov Marketplace is fast-approaching. Local nonprofit Pisgah Legal Services offers free help with enrollments for people in Western North Carolina
Consumers have until January 16, 2024, to choose a plan. The Marketplace Open Enrollment Period on HealthCare.gov generally runs from November 1 to January 15. In 2024, January 15 is a federal holiday, so consumers will have an extra day to enroll in a plan. Consumers who enroll before the January 16 deadline will have coverage that starts February 1, 2024.
“Pisgah Legal’s certified Navigators help thousands of people in our region find plans each year,” said Pisgah Legal’s Chief Operations Officer Jackie Kiger. “We know that quality, affordable health insurance is vital for folks in our community, and we are here to guide people through that process without any pressure to choose a certain plan.”
Consumers enrolling in a plan on HealthCare.gov (for Spanish-speakers Cuidadodesalud.gov) are guaranteed to receive comprehensive coverage and cannot be denied coverage based on pre-existing conditions. All plans cover essential benefits, including doctor and hospital visits, prescription drugs, mental health treatment, and maternity care.
Make an appointment today by visiting www.pisgahlegal.org/health or calling (828) 210-3404. Bilingual Navigators are available to assist in Spanish, and free translation services are available for speakers of other languages.
Cherokee One Feather
CHEROKEE, N.C. – The effort by two Cherokee women to restore the name of Kuwohi to an area in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is now one step closer to coming to fruition. The Tribal Council of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) passed Res. No. 72 (2024) unanimously during its regular session on Thursday, Jan. 4 that approves the submittal of an application on behalf of the Tribe to restore the name of the mountain currently known as Clingman’s Dome to Kuwohi which means ‘mulberry place’ in the Cherokee language.
Lavita Hill and Mary “Missy” Crowe, both EBCI tribal members, started this effort in 2022 and have gotten widespread support for the initiative. Tribal Council approved Res. No. 343 (2002) unanimously which “officially began the process of exploring the possibility of petitioning the federal government” for the name change.
During discussion on the issue on Thursday, Hill said, “It was hard but rewarding work. It was a mission I didn’t know I would ever be on. Mostly though, it was an incredible opportunity to learn not only more about myself, our culture, and our history, but to also educate others willing to learn and understand. The amount of support we have received is overwhelming.”
She said now is a good time to submit the application as the Secretary of the Interior is Deb Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna. “With a strong leader advocating for Indigenous rights for the Department of Interior, now is the time to act. In 2022, Mount Doane was renamed the First Peoples Mountain in Yellowstone National Park. My hope is that in 2024, Kuwohi will become the official name of the tallest peak in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park – restoring its original name.”
Watauga Online
The Watauga County Historical Society (WCHS) is delighted to announce that Arthel Lane “Doc” Watson (1923-2012) is the third of three inductees to the 2023 class of the WCHS Hall of Fame. Born on March 3, 1923, in Deep Gap, North Carolina, Doc Watson was the sixth of nine children born to General Dixon Watson and Annie Greene Watson. Before the end of his first year, Arthel began losing his eyesight due to an infection complicated by a vascular disorder. Doc’s father gave him a harmonica at a very young age, and by the time he was five, Doc was picking the banjo. His parents later sent him to the North Carolina State School for the Blind and Deaf (now the Governor Morehead School) in Raleigh, where he learned his first guitar chords. His first banjo was a fretless one made for him by his father when Doc was 11. Shortly thereafter, Doc purchased his first guitar with money he earned from chopping down dead chestnut trees on his father’s property and selling them to a local tannery as fuel.
Watson frequently claimed that he had never had a formal music lesson, relying instead on listening to the songs that family members sang and that he heard on the radio. In a 1969 interview, Watson revealed that he learned many of his covers of traditional folk songs by listening repeatedly to Eugene “Gene” Earle’s old 78-speed recordings of country and western, blues, and jazz performances. Other strong influences included the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers. His earliest formal performances were probably walk-on gigs at fiddlers conventions. Watson often told the story that he earned his nickname at the age of 19, when the emcee at a radio gig in a Lenoir furniture store asked him what stage name he wanted to use, prompting a girl in the crowd to suggest, perhaps in reference to Sherlock Holmes’s sidekick, “Call him ‘Doc’!”
By the time he was 20, Doc was a fixture in downtown Boone, often busking on King Street and Depot Street, sometimes with his brother Linny. Locals immediately took notice. As part of Kermit Dacus’s bootleg radio shows out of the Appalachian Theatre in 1943, Doc appeared on stage on September 11 and 18 as part of a “Hillbilly Jamboree,” billed with his nickname as “the Blind Boy with the Million Dollar Voice.” In 1945, he appeared as “Dock Watson (the Blind Boy) and His Blue Ridge Hillbillies” in a concert at the Watauga County Courthouse and was billed as “Dock Watson, the man with the flying fingers” for a gig at Elkland High School in Todd the next year. From there, Doc appeared with other local groups and fronted another act, Doc Watson and the Watauga Wildcats, for a square dance at Boone High School in 1950. Meanwhile, Watson married his Deep Gap neighbor Rosa Lee Carlton before a Boone Justice of the Peace in 1946. The marriage produced two children, Eddy Merle (1949) and Nancy Ellen (1951). To earn a living in those early years, Watson tuned pianos and continued to busk on Boone’s streets.
Citizen Times
Reconstruction preceded Progressivism — which means progress, which means business progress.
A civilization based on progress does not put a high priority on the past. Consequently, the landscape and the remnants of the Battle of Asheville — a prominent episode in local Civil War history — continue to be overrun by neglect and need.
Foster A. Sondley, author of the landmark "History of Buncombe County," stated in a 1927 article that Asheville had once been considered a potential capital of the Confederacy. Toward the end of the war, generals on both sides thought that the Confederacy's last stand would take place in Western North Carolina. For that reason, the Union Army sent three forces into the region from different directions.
Ashevillians didn't know that anything unusual was afoot. William Henry made regular trips from his inn at Sulphur Springs to Asheville to gather news, but mail was hampered by the fear of bushwhackers.
Lawrence Pulliam, 13 years old in 1865, recalled seeing corpses regularly -- those of soldiers brought to the Buncombe courthouse from nearby skirmishes and those of deserters and other hunted men left on the roadside by army detachments, bounty hunters and criminals. Warfare of this nature — raids, lootings, assaults — was common.
Mountain Express
Press release from Buncombe County
New North Carolina district maps may mean changes for some voters related to where they vote and what district they’re in. Buncombe County Election Services will be mailing new voter cards to all active voters in the County starting in mid-January. Those cards include:
- Name and Address of voter with mailing address
- Election Day Voting Location and Address
- Election Districts
- Political Party
If you do not receive a card, Election Services encourages people to look up their voter statusto make sure address/registration information is current. Sample ballots are also available through this tool. You may update voter registration information such as address, and political party through Feb. 9. As a reminder, same-day voter registration is available during Early Voting.
For more answers to all your election-related questions in Buncombe County, visit our website at buncombecounty.org/vote. Did you know you can sign up for election reminders via mobile text or email notifications? It’s easy, just text “bcalert” to 99411 or visit buncombecounty.org/codered, sign up for Buncombe Alerts, and choose “election reminders.”
Important dates
Jan. 1: Absentee ballots can be requested for elections in 2024 Jan. 19: Mailing of absentee ballots starts Feb. 9: Deadline for voter registration or party changes (same-day registration will be available during Early Voting) Feb. 15-March 2: Early Voting March 5: Primary Election
Reminders
Voters will now be asked to present a valid photo identification when voting in person. If you do not have a valid photo ID card, you may obtain one from your county board of elections prior to the election, through the end of the early voting period. If you do not have a valid photo ID card on Election Day, you may still vote and have your vote counted by signing an affidavit of reasonable impediment (or “Photo ID Exception Form”) as to why you have not presented a valid photo ID. The Exception Form can also be used if you have a religious objection to being photographed or are a victim of a recently declared natural disaster. Click here to learn more.
ExpressVote ballot marking machines were approved for use in 2023 and will be used at all Early Voting locations in 2024. Click here to watch a video.
Please note that the deadline to return completed domestic absentee ballots is now on Election Day, which is March 5. Previously there was a grace period.