The home of Asheville FM, WSFM-LP 103.3
by DJ Smittymon
Franklin School of Innovation – Class of 2020 – Graduation Ceremony – Recorded at the AB Tech-Enka campus parking lot.
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Asheville FM proudly supports our community – Please support us by going to https://ashevillefm.org/donate/ and making a donation to your volunteer based community radio station today
by KP Whaley
This weekend we can participate virtually in Virtual or V-LEAF Festival and a virtual Downtown After 5 Events!
LEAF Global Arts Executive Director Jennifer Pickering and Asheville Downtown Association Executive Director Meghan Rodgers joined Asheville FM to explain how to participate.
Listen to the interview here:
As of 11 am on May 14, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services tallied 16,507 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19. That’s an increase of 691 cases, or 4.4% since the May 13 numbers were released.
NCDHHS counted 615 deaths statewide, an increase of 18, or 3%, from the May 13 report.
Buncombe County announced on its coronavirus case dashboard that the county had 108 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of 2:23 p.m. May 13. Four people had died in Buncombe from COVID-19.
Other closed areas:
Visitor behavior will be a key factor for providing continued public access and preventing additional closures during this period of phased reopening, the N.C. Forest Service said.
The testing will be available on:
Although the testing sites are open to any Buncombe County resident experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, they are intended for people without direct health care access, people who can’t afford a COVID-19 test and people who have limited access to a health care provider testing for COVID-19, the release said.
Other ways to get tested:
Parks being reopened include:
Still closed:
Community members are still encouraged to exercise at home and run or walk in their own neighborhoods instead, a news release from the city said, and to try to visit city parks that are “traditionally less crowded” or visit during off-peak hours.
On May 13, Beaver Lake, the privately-owned recreation area off Merrimon Avenue reopened to the public. Guests at Beaver Lake require a permit to fish, boat or walk their dog on the grounds.
People who are at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19 are still strongly encouraged to stay home and travel only for absolutely essential purposes in Phase 1, but in general, people may go out for nonessential goods and services from any business that is not closed. The order also strongly recommends practicing social distancing practices and wearing cloth face coverings when outside the home.
In Phase 1, any business that can adhere to social distancing guidelines will be able to open with the exception of personal care and grooming businesses and entertainment facilities.
These exclusions include, but are not limited to:
Additional changes include:
A few things that will remain the same are:
https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2020/05/07/coronavirus-wnc-buncombe-enter-phase-1-reopening-may-8/3087698001/
As of 11 a.m. April 30, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services tallied 10,509 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19. That’s up 561 cases since the April 29 numbers were released.
In Buncombe County, lab-confirmed cases increased 14.5% overnight for a total of 63, according to NCDHHS’s official count.
There have been four deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Buncombe County, while statewide deaths rose 6.8% today for a total of 378.
When will NC reopen?
At a press conference, April 23 Governor Roy Cooper extended the Stay-at-home order through Friday, May 8, more than a week beyond its previous expiration of Wednesday, April 29.
“It’s important to get our economy moving forward. We’re helping with unemployment payments, stimulus money and the businesses that continue to be open,” Cooper said. “But I won’t risk the health of our people or our hospitals. And easing these restrictions now would do that.”
He also provided a detailed plan outlining three phases of how North Carolina might reopen once May 8 had passed. Restrictions would be progressively lifted over three phases, each lasting multiple weeks, dependent on COVID-19 trends.
But first, the state must meet certain benchmarks for the state to enter the first phase of eased restrictions, such as:
Phase 1
Phase 2 – can only begin 2-3 weeks after Phase 1 begins
Phase 3 – can only begin 4-6 weeks after Phase 2 begins
At an April 30 community briefing, the Buncombe Board of Commissioners Chairman Brownie Newman signed a new “stay home” declaration that will override the previous one and more closely align the county’s order with that of the state.
The order will go into effect May 1 at 6 am and does not yet have an end date.
Public Health preparedness director Fletcher Tove said the order will enable Buncombe to “move forward in lockstep” with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The biggest take-aways:
To review the document in full click here.
As part of the Carolina Community Tracing Collaborative, officials announced Monday that North Carolina will hire as many as 250 contact tracers to map the spread of COVID-19 across the state. Special consideration will be given to applicants who are unemployed.
Officials are requiring applicants to have:
Prospective contact tracers must be willing to go into the community to interview hard-to-reach contacts and should expect to travel within their designated region.
Recruitment for these positions began April 27, Cohen said.
To apply click here.
COVID-19 IN Western North Carolina:
https://wlos.com/news/local/nc-covid-19-update-a-large-jump-in-numbers-in-the-past-24-hours
by KP Whaley
One of the many businesses hit hard during this Pandemic is Asheville’s Alternative Weekly newspaper, Mountain Xpress. This week we spoke to Able Allen, Operations Director and Virginia Daffron, Managing Editor for Moutain Xpress about their situation and also about their decision to move forward with The Best Of WNC competition.