The World is Watching
Volume
26
/ Issue 48
Cover Design Credit:
Jade YoungCover Photography Credit:
Scott Southwick
As protests against systemic racism continue in Western North Carolina, Xpress spoke with local residents involved in international exchange about insights they’ve gained into individual and community healing through their global work.
arts
Feminazgûl and Sarah Louise release new albums
The Asheville-based artists discuss their recent releases.Asheville’s social dance scene practices social distancing
Solo dance workshops are especially accessible for quarantined dance enthusiasts and, Annie Erbsen points out, “There’s also still a lot of music being streamed.”Andrew Scotchie and the River Rats release a hyper-relevant new album
The Asheville-based guitarist and singer/songwriter discusses his rock band's latest collection.food
Carolina Beer Guy: Brewery building and expansions proceed during COVID-19 crisis
Updates on brewery construction and expansions in Asheville, Brevard and Old Fort.Earth Fare reopens in West Asheville
The Westgate store is the first of eight Earth Fare supermarkets to reopen.news
Asheville Archives: Sugar-free theory for curing polio elicits harsh criticism, 1948
As polio numbers continued to rise in Asheville, one local nutritionist argued that diet alone could prevent residents from contracting the virus.WNC’s Latino farmworkers feel COVID-19 impacts
As “congregate living settings,” migrant farmworker camps have been listed as high-risk locations for virus transmission — not just by counties throughout Western North Carolina, but by state health officials…International exchange group visits Asheville on the cusp of COVID-19
In February, Elise Guillemet and several of her students traveled from Saumur, France, to Asheville as part of an exchange program. Shortly after their return home, a nationwide lockdown went…The end of the school year is bittersweet for teacher Kate Whittier
“I feel like our relationships got a lot deeper, because we were holding Zoom meetings in our living rooms. We got to see a different side of [the students]."Lessons from local international exchange programs
Xpress reached out to several local international organizations to discuss what insights their global work could offer Western North Carolina residents who are grappling with the ongoing legacy of white…Mark Capon brings an analog pastime into the digital age
While Harvest Records remains shuttered, the business has started offering curbside pickup, mail orders and the occasional local delivery as co-owner Mark Capon tries to reimagine the usual record store…Buncombe County to fund testing for long-term care staffers
As COVID-19 continues to spread in Buncombe's long-term care facilities, testing remains the most pressing need. But health officials are "hitting a wall" when it comes to testing uninsured long-term…Commission split in vote to remove Confederate monuments
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners remained divided along partisan lines. Chair Brownie Newman and his three Democratic colleagues voted for the removal of Confederate monuments at Pack Square Park…2021 Buncombe budget passes immediately after public hearing
Over a dozen speakers ventured out on June 16 to share their thoughts during the COVID-19 era’s first county public hearing. The commissioners subsequently gave unanimous approval to a spending…opinion
Letter: Pandemic challenges those with hearing loss
"People with hearing loss need to share ideas about communicating in this situation, and it is important for others in the community to realize what some of their friends, customers…Letter: Freedom vs. reducing coronavirus risk
"To say that the lockdown has caused more jeopardy than the virus is simplistic and may I posit, ridiculous."Letter: Confederate monuments remind us of our history
"Their existence represents a teachable moment to future generations of the evil of slavery. However, these statues are not really all about slavery, they are about the history of our…Letter: Cover focus should have been on Black leaders
"The white-led action featured in your cover story was inspired by Black-led protests — which are the real story."Letter: Support for the Justice in Policing Act
"The act bans certain lethal actions by police, creates an accountability system and proposes implementing services in communities that would ultimately create less of a need for policing."Agitation cycle
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Humor: We got your jobs, right here
COVIDtown Classifieds edition — Out of work from the pandemic? We've got your pandemic job right here.