Third Annual Urban Garden Tour and Tasting This Weekend!

Written by Jordan Lenoir

This Friday at Pritchard Park from 12-2 pm, Karen Willie and the rest of Th!rd Act invites those passionate about climate change and the prevention of fossil fuels to a protest gathering to fight for a cleaner climate! 

This week on Newshour with Patryk Battle, Karen Willie, the communications advisor of Th!rd Act, was brought on to speak on the purposes of this protest and what desired reality Th!rd Act is working toward in the Asheville community. 

One of several missions at Th!rd Act is to gain the attention of banks that fund fossil fuels. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank, and Chase Bank were highlighted by Th!rd Act as major supporters of fossil fuels by putting a combined 15 billion dollars toward the use of them. To display their disapproval of these banks’ funding, Th!rd Act organized a march through Pritchard park and over to Wells Fargo (which is located across the street). Th!rd Act welcomes people of all ages to march, protest and enjoy the other entertainment aspects of this event which include: street theater, music, special speakers, and special guest Brass Your Heart, an Asheville music group. 

Willie reminded listeners who might be attending this event to bring lots of water and dress appropriately for the weather. Willie added that Pritchard park is shaded with lots of trees, but event goers should still consider bringing umbrellas for shade. 

Willie reveals that Th!rd Act’s goal with this protest is to redirect these banks’ funding toward “wind and solar alternative energies that are clean and do not put carbon dioxide into our atmosphere…” Willie also shares that these alternatives are “actually cheaper [in the long run] than using fossil fuels.” Th!rd Act has hope for smaller community solar energy to come into effect through their work. 

Th!rd Act is a community of elders determined to turn around climate change and push toward more environmentally safe alternatives to fossil fuels. Th!rd Act was started by Bill McKibben  through his spread of climate change awareness. Through his work and passion, citizens joined him in his journey of a better climate by starting Th!rd Act. Th!rd Act conducts several events including protests, campaigns, and volunteering throughout the different communities they are embedded in. 

For more visit Th!rd Act

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ASHEVILLE, NC – July 10, 2024 – Summer is here, and so is the urge to cool off and play in the waters around Asheville. Be aware that Mountain True’s 2023 French Broad River’s water report indicated that more than one-half of the sites tested failed to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recreational standards for swimming. The report found that E. Coli levels were almost 8 times the EPA recreational water standard. However, the water frequently meets the EPA’s standards for secondary recreation like tubing and kayaking which accepts these elevated E. Coli levels. This summer, the river has been safer for water activities because it hasn’t rained very much, according to Hartwell Carson, Mountain True’s French Broad Riverkeeper, as told to the Asheville Citizen-Times. Mountain True is a nonprofit organization based in Asheville that has a vision for healthy forests, clean waters and healthy communities in the Southern Blue Ridge region.

E. coli, a bacterium from animal and human feces, is a reliable indicator of the presence of bacteria and pathogens that are harmful to human health. Contact with or inadvertently swallowing contaminated water can cause gastrointestinal illness and skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic, and wound infections. The most frequently reported symptoms are stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and low-grade fever. Each can occur within 4 days of exposure. Children and seniors are at a greater risk of being affected.

Water samples are collected each week from popular recreation spots the French Broad River and western North Carolina by Mountain True’s volunteers and staff from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The samples are processed to determine the E. Coli levels.

In her 1955 book The French Broad, the American writer Wilma Dykeman described how many years of dumping untreated sewage and industrial waste into the waterway had created a dirty, smelly river that she described as “too thick to drink, too thin to plow.” After the Clean Water Act of 1972, the work of many nonprofit organizations and volunteers significantly improved the river’s water quality.

When the river has an unhealthy-appearing brown color, it is a clear sign of sediment and other pollutants running through the waterway. Carson said if the river looks clean, then it probably has fewer pollutants. The French Broad River has elevated levels of harmful bacteria from sewer and septic system leaks, cattle accessing streams, and stormwater runoff from animal agricultural operations and fields. Booming construction and development, more frequent heavy rains due to climate change, and an aging stormwater system result in more runoff from urban areas, more sewer overflows, and increased waterway sediment.

The river has a strong economic presence around Asheville. It is estimated to bring in $3.8 billion annually according to a 2020-21 study by Western Carolina University economics professor Steve Ha and the French Broad River Partnership, a group of more than 50 organizations that want to improve the river’s health for environmental and economic benefits. Carson recommends that policymakers need to encourage better building and farming practices, upgrade aging sewer infrastructure, and increase buffers near the river to reduce the pollution from nearby building and farming sites.

You can access an up-to-date French Broad River and western North Carolina water quality report for swimming on these websites: mountaintrue.org/swimguide, its smartphone app, and theswimguide.org/find. The frenchbroadwaterquality.com website indicates the safety of swimming and tubing on the French Broad River at Pearson Bridge.

Hartwell Carson, said, “We strongly encourage recreation. I go out all the time, swimming, boating – I just do it in an educated and informed way.”  He recommends that persons should check the swim guide before deciding where to go in the water and whether it safe to swim or kayak.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

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

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ASHEVILLE, NC –  July 10, 2024 – The winter surge of respiratory infections, like COVID-19, influenza and RSV, has passed. However, over the past 3 years, COVID-19 infections have also surged in August. Therefore, the weekly update will continue to report on COVID-19 and restart influenza and RSV updates in the fall.

The CDC’s COVID Dashboard for the week ending on June 29^th shows:  

• Fewer than 2% 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 minimal in North Carolina, less than 1% of all visits. However, there was a moderate increase since last week of almost 20%.

Wastewater monitoring can be used to provide early warning for COVID outbreaks. The Buncombe & Henderson counties wastewater data on the North Carolina COVID Dashboard for the week ending on June 26^th shows:

• The number of viral gene copies in each water sample is between 40-60%, the 3^rd level of 5 groups.
• The 15-day rate of change of the number of viral gene copies in each water sample is unknown. However, the surrounding counties of Swain and Jackson have increased from the previous week to 100% or greater, the highest level of 3 groups with a positive rate of change. Henderson and McDowell counties did not report data for the 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