Community News

 

ASHEVILLE, NC – July 31, 2024 – The winter surge of respiratory infections, like COVID-19, has passed. However, over the past 3 years, COVID-19 infections have also surged in August.

The CDC’s COVID Dashboard for the week ending on July 20^th shows:  

• 3% of the deaths in North Carolina were due to COVID, the 2^nd lowest level of 6 groups.
• Emergency department visits for COVID-19 are low in North Carolina, less than 2.0% of all visits.
• Deaths and emergency department visits have increased more than 15% since last week.

Wastewater monitoring can be used to provide early warning for COVID outbreaks. The Buncombe & Henderson counties wastewater data on the North Carolina COVID Dashboard was not reported last week.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

• • TONIGHT, it’s Daddy’s Big Gay Trivia Night, hosted by dom daddy Wolverine, at O.Henry’s from 7 to 9 PM. This adult-themed event promises to be a spankin’ good time with hilarious trivia questions, multiple choice, unscramble the words, visual trivia, fantastic prizes, and delicious drinks. This is a recurring event on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month at 7 PM. 
  • The first Thursday of the month is Divine’s Karaoke kiki with Proceeds to Blue Ridge Pride! Enjoy sing-alongs, props, and singing with a twist, hosted by a comedy drag queen. That’s at Archetype Brewing from 7-9pm
  • This friday, July 24th, Suede Presents: Leo Season Queer Dance Party, with sounds by Mordaga. Hosted by 12th House AVL at the Odd, this friday, from 8-12.
  • This and every Friday it’s Drag Queen karaoke at O Henry’s 8pm to midnight
  • This Friday there is a RuPaul Drag Race All Stars Season 9 viewing party at Banks Ave Bar. 8pm start time.Tuck It Up, Buttercup follows with. Music by DJ Bleu Lallama & DJ Blazze 9pm Showtime: 11:30pm. A night of interactive drag and dance music with an ever-changing lineup, each event will blend well-known, established queens/kings with up-and-coming queens/kings from the community and surrounding areas.

  • The 2nd and 4th Fridays it’s Daddy’s Big Gay Trivia Night, hosted by dom daddy Wolverine, at O.Henry’s at 7 PM. This adult-themed event promises to be a spankin’ good time! More information at Ohenrys Of Asheville dot com
  • Saturday July 25th it’s Trash Talk at Shakeys. Queer Dance Party with DJ Abu Dissaray 10p-2am Drag shows hosted by Priscilla chambers& Calcutta.

• • THIS SATURDAY, July 27th, come celebrate the anniversary of the American with Disabilities Act with DIYabled! Hosted at Pack Memorial Library, there will be a Reception, a screening of the Disability on the Spectrum Documentary by Priya Ray, and a Panel Discussion with People with Disabilities and Q&A with the Filmmaker Priya Ray. The Disability Pride Art Show will be available to see at Pack Memorial Library all month long!

• This and every Saturday, drag shows starting at 11pm and midnight at O.Henrys.
• Sunday’s it’s Gentle Yoga for Queer & GNC Folks at West Asheville Yoga Studio from 1:30 to 2:30. Learn more at “westashevilleyoga.com”.

• Also this and every Sunday it’s Social Sundays at Banks Avenue Bar from 4-7pm. Music, Dancing and Drinks with the queer community.
  
• This Sunday, July 28th, is the Beer City Bears Social @ Shakey’s – A kiki for bears, cubs, chubs, and their admirers. A fundraiser event! 4-5 PM at shakeys.
• It’s also the WNC Queer Professionals Networking event this Sunday at PLEB Urban Winery from 2-4pm. Dr. Laura Jurgens (she/they), relationship and intimacy coach (and escaped academic), will guide us through some fun and thought-provoking exercises to help us figure out how to safely expand our authenticity at work.  They willl be focusing on these questions: How do we connect more authentically in business relationships? How can we feel more safe to be ourselves? How might it benefit us? How can we allow other people — whether clients, colleagues, customers, bosses, or employees, to see the real us– and how much of the real us do we really want them to see?
• Monday and every Monday, Karaoke hosted by Ganymede at the 27 Club at 10pm.  
• Tuesday, July 30th it’s Take Over Tuesday at Haiku I Do. A social event for the LGBTQ community starting at 5:30pm.

Looking Ahead:

• Next Thursday, August 1st, Tina and Her Pony is playing a one hour set on 8/1 Wicked Weed Funkatorium 6-7pm for AVL FEST! Tickets are available at www.avlfest.com. 
• Next Friday, August 2nd at 6pm t’s Pride Night at the Blue Ridge Beer Garden in Hendersonville, a monthly community meet up by Hendersonville Pride.
• Next Saturday, August 3rd. AVL Fest is here! Join M A R and the Marmeladies August 3rd at 2pm at The Orange Peel for for music, dancing and good times! M A R and the Marmeladies is a spirited 4-piece band rooted in the rich tapestry of Latin American Folk and ventures beyond boundaries of genres adding a touch of quirky bluesy indie and Latin flair over bilingual lyrics. Hailing originally from Peru and based in the US, M A R, the lead singer and guitars of the Marmeladies is a trans/non-binary songwriter, musician and producer. 

Looking Further Ahead:

• Thursday, August 8th it’s Make Medicine Queer (again) an interactive lecture/workshop at RiverRock Clinic to learn about queerness in healthcare. This lecture/interactive workshop will be led by Mary Burke-Pitts (accupuncturist) and Dr. Catherine Lok (family physician). This event is all about embracing our queer identities and reclaiming our space in the medical world. explore how we can make medicine more welcoming and affirming for all LGBTQ+ individuals and how to get the most of both natural/Traditional Chinese Medicine and conventional medicine as a queer person or ally. RiverRock Clinic’s cozy patient waiting room is at 2 Weaverville Road #201 in Woodfin.
• Thursday August 15th Center for Craft invites you to an opening celebration of Max Adrian: RIPSTOP on Thursday, August 15 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm! Max Adrian: RIPSTOP is a solo exhibition celebrating queer material culture and history through the lens of craft by the Ohio-based fiber artist and recipient of the prestigious 2015 Center for Craft Windgate-Lamar Fellowship. The show features patchwork textiles and inflatable sculptures made from fur, satin, pleather, fringe, and ripstop, the show’s namesake, a woven nylon material that allows the pieces to hold air. On view are monumentally scaled works that inflate in response to the viewer.
• Youth OUTright’s GSA Summit is back again! This year, the GSA Summit will be back at Warren Wilson College on October 12th from 9am-5pm. And presentation applications are open now till August 12th! High school youth are invited to present an hour-long workshop, discussion, or presentation on social justice such as racial justice, gender justice, disability justice, and more. If you’re interested in this opportunity, you can find more info and the link to apply at givebutter.com/GSASummit2024

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UNITED STATES – Summertime, 2023 –  Heat-related illness is the nation’s leader of weather-related fatalities. About 700 people every year die in the United States from exposure to extreme heat, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Climate change has caused more frequent extreme weather events like higher temperatures and heat waves. Therefore, people are faced with more occasions to develop heat-related illness.

University of Michigan Public Health Professor Marie O’Neil commented, “With climate change, extreme weather, including heat, is becoming more frequent and intense. Hot weather has unequal impacts, and seniors, very young children, outdoor workers, people without access to air conditioning, and those with chronic illnesses are among the most vulnerable.”

People can overheat very quickly leading to potential health problems. They should limit their exposure to high temperatures. Heat exhaustion occurs due to loss of water and salt from excessive sweating. Signs may include headache, dizziness, confusion, fainting, weakness, heavy sweating, thirst, nausea or vomiting. Skin can be cool and clammy. People should get out of the heat with any signs of heat exhaustion. Heat stroke is a more severe condition and can be fatal. Sweating stops and the body can no longer remove excess heat. Signs may include confusion, passing out and seizures, Skin can feel hot and dry.

Acclimatization is a beneficial physiologic adaptation of building up a tolerance to heat that occurs after repeated exposure to a hot environment. Outdoor fatalities can occur in the first few days of working in hot environments because the body has not built up a tolerance to heat. The lack of acclimatization is one of the major risk factors for heat-stress fatalities.

The heat index, commonly used to measure environmental conditions, is determined by air temperature and humidity. An index above 80 is felt to be the minimal threshold for people to have heat-related illness.

Anyone with signs of heat stroke should be moved to a cooler place to lower body temperature. Then call 911 to request immediate medical assistance. It is recommended that everyone take frequent breaks out of the heat, drink plenty of water (at least one pint per hour), wear light-colored, lightweight and loose-fitting clothing, rest in the shade, and in a cool place.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

  

UNITED STATES – Summertime, 2024 – This summer’s heat wave has affected Americans from coast to coast. Over 60 million people have been under a heat alert this month in the West, including record high temperatures in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Salt Lake City, and Denver. As of July 13^th, more than 300 suspected heat-related deaths have occurred in the Phoenix area this summer and almost 100 in a single week, from July 7 to 13, when temperatures soared to 118 degrees. In the East, there has been hot weather from New England to the mid-Atlantic states, with record highs in Boston and Washington, DC. About 130 million people experienced some of the hottest temperatures of the summer on July 17^th. Over 220 million Americans had temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit last week, particularly in the East and the Central states.

The U.S. is already having its second-warmest summer, and it isn’t even over yet. While much of the country will have above-average temperatures for the rest of July and the beginning of August, much of the South usually has its peak average temperatures during the latter part of August. The warmest season out west usually occurs in September. According to EU’s climate change monitoring service, June was the hottest month since records began in the mid-1800’s, prior to the industrial era. Meanwhile, our planet has had 13 straight months of record monthly average global surface temperatures. This data may suggest that 2024 will surpass 2023 as the hottest year ever.

Climate Central, a non-government advocacy group, reports that the average summertime temperatures at night are also warmer than normal. Therefore, people may not get enough relief from the heat during the day, increasing health risks.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour