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Clodfelter: Charlotte must discuss new revenue for transit

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Charlotte Mayor Dan Clodfelter said the city should discuss new ways to fund transit during his “state of the city” speech Tuesday, though he cautioned he didn’t want to get ahead of the City Council on making any recommendations.

The Charlotte Area Transit System is funded by a half-cent sales tax that was first levied in 1998. Revenue from that tax is almost entirely committed for operating the bus system and building a 9-mile extension of the Lynx Blue Line.

In his speech, Clodfelter said the discussion about transit funding would be necessary because he doesn’t believe the state will fund future transit projects as they have in the past. The N.C. Department of Transportation has paid for 25 percent of both light-rail projects.

“In the area of transportation we may well be called upon to debate and think about what has always been unthinkable – the idea that we may need to be willing to assume some additional responsibilities locally that have previously been the responsibility of state government,” Clodfelter said during his speech.

In an interview after the speech, Clodfelter said the city might look to York County, S.C., which has a “Pennies for Progress” 1 cent sales tax for road projects.

The General Assembly has been considering expanding the sales tax base to include more services. If that happened, it could generate more revenue for CATS.

But it’s unclear if an expansion of the sales tax base would give CATS enough money for a sizable transit project, such as a streetcar extension or commuter train to Lake Norman.

He said a transit funding working group has thought of creative ways to finance transit projects, but the group hasn’t solved the issue of “how do you pay off the debt.”

Though Clodfelter said the city should start discussing ways to get more revenue for transit, there is already an option that’s available: Increasing the sales tax by a quarter-cent.

That tax increase can be used for anything. Voters in November rejected a plan to use that sales tax hike primarily for teacher pay raises.

The recession hurt CATS’ revenues, as people pulled back spending for several years starting in 2008.

But it’s unclear whether CATS could have built all of the transit projects it promised even if there had not been a recession. One reason is that transit projects have cost far more than projected. For instance, the Lynx Blue Line extension was projected to cost $700 million in 2007. The new cost is $1.1 billion – and that was after CATS stopped the line at UNC-Charlotte instead of going all the way to Interstate 485.

In his speech, Clodfelter did not discuss whether he would seek the mayor’s job in city elections this fall. He told reporters that he would not discuss politics on Tuesday.

The City Council appointed Clodfelter to the mayor’s job after former Mayor Patrick Cannon’s arrest on federal corruption charges in March.

Some council members have said that Clodfelter told them he would not seek the mayor’s job this year, which they said was a condition for his being selected.

Council member David Howard and former County Commission chair Jennifer Roberts, both Democrats, have said they are running for mayor.

In his speech, Clodfelter said the city was resilient in dealing with what he called “civic trauma” – a reference to Cannon’s arrest. Clodfelter said the city realized last year that it could survive the Cannon scandal without “losing its place, without losing its spirit.”

He compared the Cannon arrest with the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1970 that desegregated schools.

“Charlotte became known as the city that made desegregation work,” said Clodfelter, who spoke at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center.

Clodfelter also highlighted some of the upcoming issues that council members will face.

This week the city is scheduled to hear a financing plan from a Florida developer about building an amateur sports complex near Bojangles’ Coliseum, which would be funded in part with $37 million of public money.

The city is still trying to develop the empty 80-acre site at Eastland Mall.

There are also questions about how to pay for long-term capital needs for the city’s storm water system and water and sewer facilities.

The city will soon start budget season with the loss of the Business Privilege License tax, which will leave a $18 million hole in the Charlotte budget. As a legislator, Clodfelter supported changing or getting rid of the tax.

Clodfelter did not discuss the loss of the business tax in his speech. He did mention a new effort to study the city’s lack of economic mobility.

The Charlotte area ranked last among the country’s 50 largest metro areas for upward mobility, according to researchers at Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, and the Treasury Department.

“We cannot fail to respond to the fact that Charlotte has been singled out in several recent national studies as one of the most challenging large urban areas for people starting out on the bottom rung and trying to move up the ladder,” Clodfelter said.

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Leases for wind turbines off Carolinas could come in 2016

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Local/State

Bald eagle population soars in the Triangle

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Leases for wind turbines off Carolinas could come in 2016

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WLOS News 13 provides local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of events and items of interest in the community, sports and entertainment programming for Asheville, NC and nearby towns and communities in Western North Carolina and the Upstate of South Carolina, including the counties of Buncombe, Henderson, Rutherford, Haywood, Polk, Transylvania, McDowell, Mitchell, Madison, Yancey, Jackson, Swain, Macon, Graham, Spartanburg, Greenville, Anderson, Union, Pickens, Oconee, Laurens, Greenwood, Abbeville and also Biltmore Forest, Woodfin, Leicester, Black Mountain, Montreat, Arden, Weaverville, Hendersonville, Etowah, Flat Rock, Mills River, Waynesville, Maggie Valley, Canton, Clyde, Franklin, Cullowhee, Sylva, Cherokee, Marion, Old Fort, Forest City, Lake Lure, Bat Cave, Spindale, Spruce Pine, Bakersville, Burnsville, Tryon, Columbus, Marshall, Mars Hill, Brevard, Bryson City, Cashiers, Greer, Landrum, Clemson, Gaffney, and Easley.

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School calendar debate likely to wait until after summer break

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By Mark Binker

Raleigh, N.C. — Wake County is among dozens of school districts pushing lawmakers to roll back a decade-old calendar law that keeps school officials from beginning the academic year before Aug. 25, but progress on any such bill is likely to be slow this year, if it comes at all.

Already, lawmakers have filed a dozen bills seeking to give schools more waivers to the calendar law or exempt particular school systems altogether. More are on the way, part of an effort to break a legislative stalemate that bottled up 25 similar measures during the 2013-14 session.

“I hope, by filing all these individual local bills, we will show the leadership the demand that’s out there,” said Sen. Mike Woodard, D-Durham, who has penned a calendar flexibility bill for Person County and said he has been asked to author a similar measure for Durham Public Schools as well. 

School districts and their legislative allies, along with a liberal-conservative coalition of advocacy groups seeking repeal of the calendar law entirely, face opposition from executives working in the state’s tourism industry, who say narrowing the summer break could hurt business at the shore and in the mountains. 

Current law restricts traditional-calendar schools from starting their year before “the Monday closest to Aug. 26” or running past the second week of June. That measure was a reaction to what legislators then saw as school calendars that were eating a large portion of the traditional summer break, wiping out the entire month of August for many students. 

“Tourism represents $20 billion of North Carolina’s economy,” said Rolf Blizzard, a Raleigh-based hotel owner and chairman of the North Carolina Travel and Tourism Coalition, a group formed to lobby on behalf of the industry. “In fact, it’s the only sector of our economy that continued to grow and to generate more state and local revenue during the Great Recession.”

Businesses, he said, support the existing school calendar law, “which already provides school systems considerable flexibility, gives them the option of year-round schedules and has served North Carolina well for a decade.”

Creating calendar problems

But school districts say the calendar restrictions have put them at odds with a number of educational priorities, including some pushed by lawmakers.

For example, Wake County Board of Education Chairwoman Christine Kushner said many high schools in her district worked with local community colleges to provide students with a leg up on earning college credits or technical courses not available in high schools. But community colleges, she said, start their academic year earlier than public schools are allowed to, which makes putting together schedules for those students difficult. 

There are other concerns as well. 

“Students who graduate after the fall semester of high school are not able to go on to higher education in January,” Kushner said.

That’s because their final exams aren’t completed and grades aren’t compiled before community colleges and universities start their spring semester. Other students simply find themselves sweating out semester final exams while their families get together to celebrate winter holidays or go on vacation. 

“We would like to start earlier in August so that exams in our high schools could be completed by winter break,” she said. 

Those arguments are familiar to anyone who sat through legislative committee hearings last fall and winter during which lawmakers were looking for ways to help schools be more innovative and keep up with peers around the world. 

“Pretty much every person who testified at the innovation committee included comments about how calendar flexibility is critical,” said Rep. Craig Horn, R-Union. 

Horn has introduced a bill that would let school districts seek a calendar exemption for a specific school but has shied away from filing a statewide bill.

“Frankly, because it won’t pass,” he said. 

Getting the warring parties together 

While the work of the grassroots Save Our Summers group is often cited as the driver of the 2004 law, it is objections from the lobby representing hotels, resort operators and vacation-area business that lawmakers say keeps any sort of calendar change at bay.

“The travel and tourism industry is greatly opposed,” said Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell. 

Business leaders object to shorter summer breaks both due to the loss of customers as well as the loss of workforce. High school students serve as lifeguards, wait staff, ticket takers and in other seasonal positions for a number of tourist destinations. 

Hise said he would like to see some flexibility for schools in his area that deal with weather-related problems – particularly snow and ice in the mountains. But, he said, schools already have some flexibility to use longer school days to rearrange their calendars if they want to make sure exams are given before winter break. 

A nascent effort to bring both sides of the debate together is quietly afoot.

“What I’m trying to do is get all the warring parties together,” said Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson.

McGrady said he would like to reach a broader, statewide agreement that would negate the need for the passel of individual school calendar bills lawmakers are filing. 

Rather than snipe at each other over a persistent stalemate, McGrady said he’s trying to get fellow lawmakers and advocates on either side of the issue to commit to participating in an interim study committee. These committees meet after lawmakers finish their annual legislative session, crafting bills outside the press of legislative deadlines. 

If all parties agree to work on a bill, McGrady said, it’s less likely the agreement would fall apart. 

“Now may be the right time to try to resolve this,” he said. 

It’s unclear how much buy-in business leaders who are happy with the status quo would have in such an effort. 

“We strongly support the existing law, but we’re always open to working with others to see if we can find common ground to make it even better,” Blizzard said.

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Black re-enactor has story to tell about Civil War

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WILMINGTON, N.C. Like the soldiers he portrays at living history events and battle re-enactments 150 years after the end of the Civil War, James White employs the element of surprise.

Visitors who come to these commemorations believing they understand the conflict often are astonished to see a black man in a blue uniform, and to learn that 200,000 black soldiers and sailors fought in the Civil War.

“It’s part of history. I didn’t make it up,” says White, who has risen to the rank of commander of his re-enactment group, which portrays the real-life Battery B of the 2nd Regiment, U.S. Colored Light Artillery. “People tell me all the time, ‘I never knew about this.’ “

Until the late 1990s, neither did White. He was working then at a post office outside Wilmington when two African-American men walked in “wearing funny uniforms.” He asked about their clothing, and they told him they were dressed as soldiers from the Civil War. “What about the Civil War?” he asked.

They invited him to an event nearby in which they were participating. He went, and he was hooked.

In his 16th year as a re-enactor, White has spent more time in uniform than many of those who fought in the war from 1861 to 1865. He owes his longevity as a weekend soldier to the enjoyment he derives from reliving the experiences of his forebears, and to the continuing fascination the public has with the conflict that took more American lives than all this nation’s other wars combined.

This year, hundreds of thousands of tourists are expected to attend events at former battlefields and other historic sites marking the sesquicentennial of the end of the war. They will peruse Matthew Brady’s photos of Union generals and see medical instruments used to treat the battle-wounded in Washington, D.C.; watch a Confederate victory re-enacted on Olustee Battlefield in Florida; and ride a bus over the route through Maryland by which John Wilkes Booth tried to escape after shooting Abraham Lincoln.

North Carolina scheduled events and exhibits throughout the year, including last weekend’s re-enactment of the Battle of Fort Fisher, south of Wilmington, which drew more than 800 costumed participants and a record 21,930 spectators for the fight that is considered the beginning of the end for the Confederacy. On Feb. 7 and 8, crowds will descend on the grounds of the Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington, the site of the Battle of Forks Road. There, after the victory at Fort Fisher, U.S. Colored Troops played a pivotal role in the Union finally taking over the port city, cutting off the South’s last source of supplies and hastening the end of the war.

Interest in the story of black soldiers’ involvement in the war, whether they were members of the Colored Troops or, in smaller numbers, fighters for the Confederacy. Once mainly the obsession of academics and all-white descendants’ groups, Civil War history is now a driving force in heritage tourism, and some of those being drawn to it are African-Americans for whom the subject was once almost taboo because of its association with slavery.

Today, blacks and whites often get hooked on the subject for the same reasons, says Martha Burdette, education curator for the Cameron Art Museum, which has held the Forks Road battle re-enactment every year since it moved onto the battlefield site in 2002.

“It’s the ancestor thing,” she says. “It’s close enough in history that almost everybody knows of someone in their family line who participated in some way in the Civil War. It’s something they have a personal attachment to.”

That might sustain people through endless pages of genealogy records and military rosters. Something else gets them out on a windswept battlefield when it’s spitting rain on a cold February afternoon, says Johnnie McKoy, who oversees the Forks Road battle re-enactment as the art museum’s property manager.

“It’s the boom of the cannons.”

Popular culture played a role too; many black re-enactors got started after watching the 1989 movie “Glory,” about a USCT regiment, and historic sites reported bumps in their visitor numbers after the airing of Ken Burns’ documentary series “The Civil War” the next year.

North Carolina promotes its connections to the Civil War, using historic sites as educational resources and economic engines, especially in rural counties that have few other attractions. A 2013 report from the Civil War Trust noted that Bentonville Battlefield in Johnston County typically attracts 30,000 people per year, but on the 145th anniversary in 2010, 50,000 people came just for the battle re-enactment. They contributed more than $5 million to the local economy in one weekend.

USCT re-enactors have begun to participate in battles at N.C. Historic Sites where it’s accurate to do so.

For most of the war, it was illegal for blacks to fight for the Confederacy, though some slaves served as cooks or personal aides in place of, or along with, their masters, and some freed blacks who owned land are said to have volunteered to protect their property.

Battles and living history events are an investment for re-enactors, too, who might spend thousands of dollars on gear, must pay for their travel and sometimes pay a fee to participate. A cottage industry has grown around the hobby, with vendors online and in tents on battlefield peripheries offering period spectacles and cookware, reproduction clothing and fresh-baked hard tack, the cracker that sustained soldiers when other food was scarce.

Living history events often are one-day affairs, and participants can stay in motels or go home to their beds when visitors leave. Battle re-enactments usually last through a weekend, with the skirmish fought once each day and the soldiers, sometimes joined by their families, living in camps under much the same conditions that existed when the bullets were real.

Malcolm Beech, a Kinston newspaper publisher and president of the U.S. Colored Troops Living History Association, says about 300 black re-enactors in about 15 units across the country – two of them in North Carolina – have an important lesson to teach. Until 1863, he says, the Confederacy was winning the war. With the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863, the Union called on freed slaves to enlist in the cause. In the South, those who could cross into Union-held territory could enlist. As black troops began to replenish the Union Army, the tide began to turn.

A player in North Carolina’s other black Civil War re-enactment group, the 37th USCT Infantry, based in Kinston, Beech wants children to know that people who looked like them were on the battlefields.

“You’ve got 200,000 African-Americans with guns now,” he says of the second half of the war. “They’re fighting to free themselves. The North was fighting to save the Union. The south was fighting for state’s rights. African-Americans were fighting for their freedom.

“We tell that side of the story,” Beech says. “African-American children, they feel real proud to learn that their ancestors had a role in freeing themselves. They weren’t just waiting for some great white man to come along. They laid it all on the line.”

It’s a compelling story and an exciting pastime for White, who grew up in Brunswick County, graduated from Livingstone College in Salisbury and wrote a book about his re-enacting experience.

When he started, White joined the 33rd U.S. Colored Troops re-enactors, an infantry unit based in South Carolina. He developed a fictional character, Thomas Jackson, a South Carolina slave who is on good terms with his master and, when the master dies, follows his bequest to join the Confederate cause, signing on as a cook.

Later in the narrative White created, Jackson is enticed by the Union’s offer and joins an infantry unit, one of 166 regiments eventually formed as part of the real-life USCTs.

In his mid-30s when he joined the re-enactment movement, White was already older than the average soldier who served in the 1860s. Within a few years, he tired of all that marching in the heat and the cold, and of all the gear infantrymen carry into battle so that spectators get a realistic sense of the fight.

So around 2002, he helped form Battery B, the artillery unit, which consists of about eight soldiers and a borrowed cannon and does battle re-enactments all over North Carolina. White has recruited his brother, Joseph, who lives in Leland, and sometimes conscripts his son, Jayden, who is 8. They look sharp in their blue wool with the red trim. White tries to stay slender enough to always be able to button his coat.

As commander of the artillery unit – an officer – White, now 51, sleeps on a bed instead of the ground. He sets up an extra tent to display for visitors his collection of Civil War bullets, cannon shot and Confederate money.

White still enjoys the smoke and the noise of a battle, where he is focused on the choreography of the event, firing at the right time and making sure no one is injured as each 9-ounce shot of gunpowder is lit. But he says he prefers living history events, where he resurrects his role as Thomas the infantryman – without the marching – and gets to tell visitors the story of the black soldier’s life.

By the end of February, he will have participated in at least seven events.

White would like to see some younger recruits carry on the mission, but they’re hard to find.

“If they buy the uniform, I know I have ’em,” he says.

Beech, 68, who has been a re-enactor for as long as White, says research shows more than 6,000 black soldiers from North Carolina participated in the Civil War.

“Their story needs to be told just like any other North Carolinian’s story,” he says. “It’s not just a story about Confederate bravery, defending the homeland.

“I’m a Southerner, and this is my heritage too. When I’m telling the story, I’m just telling it from a different end of the gun.”

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MoDOT Unveils Proposed Road and Bridge Plan

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Posted on Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 2:13 pm

The Missouri Department of Transportation today outlined its plan for taking care of roads and bridges with a severely reduced construction budget.

“Missouri’s 325 System” calls for MoDOT to focus its limited resources on approximately 8,000 miles of Missouri’s 34,000-mile state highway system. The 8,000 miles make up the state’s primary roads and are the highways that connect cities across the state.

The department will use its annual construction budget – which is expected to drop to $325 million in 2017 – to keep these primary roads in the good condition they are in today with maintenance and rehabilitation work such as overlays and bridge replacements. Enhancements, though, such as interchange improvements or road widening, will not be possible.

The remaining miles of roads and bridges will make up the state’s supplementary system and will receive only limited routine maintenance. That means MoDOT crews will do the best they can to maintain roads and bridges on the supplemental system with internal resources. Work will include filling potholes, patching pavement and flushing and sealing bridge decks.  With only limited routine maintenance, however, these roads will deteriorate.

“We need at least $485 million to maintain roads and bridges in the condition they are today, so facing a $325 million budget means making some tough choices,” MoDOT Director Dave Nichols said. “In addition, Missouri won’t be able to match federal funds in 2017, which provides a $4 to $1 investment. That revenue will be lost to other states.

“We won’t be able to provide the same level of service as we have in the past. This is not a course of action we want to take, but it’s one that insufficient funding forces us to take.”

Nichols presented the “Tough Choices Ahead” plan to the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission today at its monthly meeting in Jefferson City.

The emphasis on the primary and supplementary roads differs from MoDOT’s current focus on major and minor roads because the major roads, which make up 20 percent of the system and carry 80 percent of traffic, are confined to limited areas of the state. By contrast, the Missouri 325 System ensures that every county has at least one highway that would be included as a primary route.

However, the supplementary roads include some significant urban routes that MoDOT won’t be able to maintain in good condition at a $325 million spending level. These urban roads don’t connect the state’s system of roads and bridges, but rather fill a more local transportation need. Still, they carry high traffic volumes – anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000 vehicles per day.

Examples include Lindbergh Boulevard in St. Louis; Blue Parkway in Kansas City; Glenstone Avenue in Springfield; Stadium Boulevard in Columbia; Route 179 in Jefferson City; Rangeline Road in Joplin; Belt Highway in St. Joseph; and William Street in Cape Girardeau.

“State and federal fuel taxes provide the bulk of revenue for transportation in Missouri, but that funding source is no longer adequate,” Nichols said. “That’s because cars have become more fuel efficient; the fuel tax rate has not increased in almost 20 years, while the cost of doing business continues to rise; and inflation has decreased today’s purchasing power by more than 50 percent.”

Nichols said MoDOT has done all it can to put as much money as possible toward roads and bridges.

“We’ve reduced staff, facilities and equipment and directed the savings to roads and bridges,” Nichols said. “Without additional funding, though, we’re now faced with having to reduce services as well.”

Missourians can find out more about MoDOT’s Tough Choices Ahead plan, and also comment on the proposal, by visiting www.modot.org/toughchoicesahead. The commission is considering the plan and is expected to act on the proposal at its Feb. 4 meeting.

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American Airlines pushes for NC sales tax break

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Local/State

Shaffer: Recycled flowers bring just as much love

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Obama’s visit draws throngs to Stanford campus

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Brian Kaplun and Stelio Ropokis were giddy as they walked out of Stanford Memorial Auditorium after listening to President Barack Obama’s speech Friday.

Like other Stanford students, the 18-year-olds had entered a lottery to snag tickets as soon as they heard Obama would address the White House Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection.

Kaplun had gotten in line at 6 a.m., almost three hours before the summit officially kicked off.

“I thought I needed to get here really, really early in order to get good seats,” he said. “In fact, my friends camped here [starting at] midnight. They were among the first six people in the door so they sat in the second row, which is crazy.”

Both freshmen said they got a chuckle when Obama joked, “I’ve got to admit, like, I kind of want to go here. I was trying to figure out why it is that a really nice place like this is wasted on young people — who don’t fully appreciate what you got.”

They said technology and the challenges plaguing cybersecurity are prevalent topics on campus, which is one reason so many students came to hear the experts from Apple, MasterCard and other tech companies.

By 11 a.m., traffic was snarled on El Camino Real and Palm Drive because police had cordoned off streets leading to the auditorium, forcing drivers to take detours. Those trying to get close to the action were directed to park their cars in the university’s lots and walk. Many who came on bicycles or foot had an easier time getting around.

Scores of students, university employees and neighbors — many of them toting cameras — gathered at the side of the auditorium where Obama’s motorcade was parked. Others perched on bicycles or searched for shade in front of the hall. There was no mass demonstration, although some protesters were spotted. When the lecture concluded, the packed auditorium with a seating capacity of 1,714 emptied out.

Bhaven Patel, 20, a junior, said he believes cybersecurity has always been an important topic but it was thrust into the limelight because of recent security breaches at large companies such as Sony and Anthem.

“The fact that hackers can get into these large companies that already do so much to secure [their data] means they can easily penetrate the defenses of any citizen who is unassuming of the power these hackers actually have,” he said.

Patel, who is enrolled in a cybersecurity class, acknowledged the opportunity to see Obama for the first time encouraged him to attend the summit.

“It was quite interesting — when they told us he was going to come on stage, everybody got very quiet very quickly,” he said, laughing. “But then he didn’t come out for five minutes and people started getting antsy. I think everybody was really excited. Students have been talking about this the entire week.”

Gabrielle Kouchacji, a 28-year-old Stanford Graduate School of Business student, decided to take advantage of the sunny weather and plopped herself down in front of the auditorium.

“So much of what we do here — at the university, in the workplace — is all based on cloud computing and security within hardware,” she said. “As a result, we need to do a really good job of protecting it and just as our security measures become more advanced, so do hackers and threats to that security.”

Kouchacji said she spotted Obama entering the summit venue, then added that she’s heard him speak live several times before — including as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., and as an undergraduate student at the University of South California.

“I think he was given a tough deal with the current Congress but I respect his leadership abilities,” Koushacji said about Obama. “Our economy is in a better place than ever. He gets a lot of criticism that I think is undeserved. He does a really good job of trying to lead a bipartisan Congress and they don’t do a really good job of allowing him to do that.”

Before the big event, Menlo Park resident Derrith Lambka was getting anxious, exclaiming, “All we’ve seen is his helicopter, the planes, the cars, all the preparation — we want to see Obama!”

Derrith, who along with her husband Evan rode a bicycle over to Stanford, said a president needs the backing of a “team” to effectively lead a nation.

“He’s got Congress and all these factions that he has to try and motivate — he may need a cattle prod or something,” she said.

Email Rhea Mahbubani at rmahbubani@dailynewsgroup.com or follow her at twitter.com/RMahbubani.

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Tried Stone Missionary Baptist marks 87th anniversary – Asheville Citizen

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Email information about faith-based events and what’s going on at your place of worship at least two weeks in advance to Bruce Steele at bsteele@citizen-times.com and Carole Terrell at cterrell@ citizen-times.com.

Church celebrates it 87th anniversary

ASHEVILLE – The Tried Stone Missionary Baptist Church will celebrate its 87th Church Anniversary at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday.

Rev. Dwayne Harris, associate minister at St. Paul Baptist Church, Charlotte, will preach at the 11 a.m. service. Rev. Jerret Fite, Pastor of St. John AME Zion Church, Rutherfordton, along with his choir and congregation, will be guests at the 4 p.m. service.

Elder Alfred Blount is the pastor. The church is at 100 Carroll Ave. To learn more, call Cornell Proctor at 285-0444.

‘Forgiven’ to premiere Feb. 19

MORGANTON – “The Forgiven” will premiere at 7 p.m. Feb. 19, with additional showings at 1 p.m. Feb. 21, and 4 p.m. Feb. 22, at Marquee Cinemas, 101 S. Green St. The film was filmed almost entirely in Burke County and aims to “change the way viewers perceive Christian faith-based entertainment.”

WNC native Justin “Jay” Turner is the writer, director and lead actor in the film. He graduated from East Burke High School in 2006 and studied film production at Appalachian State University.

“The Forgiven” is about a man who resorts to acts of crime that are against his faith in order to get the money for treatment of his daughter’s brain tumor. Tickets are available at movietickets.com or at the box office.

Ethical Humanists talk segregation

ASHEVILLE – The Ethical Humanist Society will meet 2-3:30 p.m. Feb. 15 at The Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood Road. The topic will be “Growing Up African American in Segregated Asheville,” a presentation by Viola Spells, owner of Zenobia Studio, where she creates and sells metal art work.

Spells will discuss her experiences from birth through high school, 1945-63, including vignettes of the YWCA, churches, schools, library, the YMI, Lexington Avenue, Asheville Student Committee on Racial Equality in the early 1960s, desegregation of the Asheville public library and more. A QA will follow.

To learn more, visit www.aeu.org or call 687-7759.

Adult forums at FCUCC

HENDERSONVILLE – First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1735 Fifth Ave. W., invites everyone to its weekly Adult Forums at 9:15 a.m. Sundays in the Felix Building, To learn more, visit fcchendersonville.org or call 692-8630. Upcoming topics include:

•Sunday: “An Introduction to the Body Code.” Learn this simple healing method from the realm of “energy psychology” with presenter Pat McCain, RN, owner of Nature’s Answers for You. Learn more at www.healerslibrary.com

•Feb. 22: “Lent, Part 2 — Practicing Resurrection: Keeping Lent Alive.” Seeking to reframe “life” as “resurrection,” with presenter Marc Mullinax of Mars Hill University.

•March 1: “Big History.” Presenter Larry Anderson says “Let’s entertain some further discussion of … awakening of consciousness among humans.”

Holmes speaks at Mars Hill U.

MARS HILL – Zan Wesley Holmes Jr., pastor, professor, politician, community activist and civil rights leader, will speak at Mars Hill University at noon Feb. 16 in Broyhill Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.

Holmes is pastor emeritus of St. Luke Community United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas, where he served for 28 years and taught at Southern Methodist University. He was the first African-American elected to the Texas House of Representatives.

Swannanoa UMC hosts meals

SWANNANOA – The annual Shrove Tuesday pancake supper will be 5-7 p.m. Feb. 17 at Swannanoa United Methodist Church, 216 Whitson Ave. The all-you-can-eat event benefits Methodist Women community projects.

On Feb. 15, the church is inviting Swannanoa Valley residents to a Quarterly Supper at 5 p.m. Bring a covered dish to share. To learn more, call Eileen Michaud at 505-2780.

Lenten services planned for Black Mountain

BLACK MOUNTAIN – Mid-week Lenten services begin Ash Wednesday and continue through March 25 at various Black Mountain churches. Each service begins at noon with scripture and prayer, music and a brief sermon, followed by a lunch of soup and sandwiches. The services are as follows:

•Feb. 18: Ash Wednesday, St. James Epsicopal Church, 424 W. State St.

•Feb. 25: Tabernacle United Methodist Church, 385 Tabernacle Road.

•March 4: First Christian Church, 201 Blue Ridge Road.

•March 11: Black Mountain Presbyterian Church, 117 Montreat Road.

•March 18: TBA.

•March 25: First Baptist Church of Black Mountain, 130 Montreat Road.

Holy Week services include:

•April 3: Good Friday, Black Mountain United Methodist Church, 101 Church St.

•April 5 at 7 a.m.: Easter sunrise service, Tabernacle UMC.

Prayer time at Grace Lutheran

HENDERSONVILLE – Grace Lutheran Church, 1245 Sixth Ave. W., invites the community to participate in the following services and programs:

•Ash Wednesday services, 12:15 and 7 p.m. Feb. 18, with Holy Communion served at both. Nursery care available.

•A Lenten Journey: A free 6-week class meeting at 9 a.m. Fridays, Feb. 20-March 27. The subtitle is “Using Music and Imagery for Spiritual Renewal,” and the class will combine music, imagery and scripture. Register by Feb. 15 by calling 693-4890 or online at http://bit.ly/lentenjourney.

•What do Lutherans believe? A fast-paced class, 9 a.m.-noon Feb. 21, designed to deepen knowledge of Grace and the Lutheran Church and its beliefs and programs. Light refreshments, time for fellowship, tours of facilities. Register by Feb. 15 by visiting http://bit.ly/graceintro. Nursery care available.

•“The Artist’s Way, A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity” is a six-week class meeting at 6 p.m. Saturdays beginning Feb. 17. Using by Julia Cameron as a guide, Mary Eichorn invites participants to strengthen, enhance and awaken their creative spirit. Eichorn is a mental health clinician. To register, contact maryeichorn@yahoo.com or 674-2688. The cost is $45 plus the cost of the book.

•A monthly prayer time in the sanctuary is offered 12:15-12:45 p.m. the fourth Monday of the month. The next meeting is Feb. 23. Everyone is welcome to come together to pray. Silent prayers will be followed by open prayer from anyone who cares to speak. The prayer time closes with the Lord’s Prayer.

•Healing prayer is offered the second Friday of every month by Grace Prayer Ministers and the Order of Saint Luke. Arrive from 1-1:30 p.m. March 13 and plan to stay at least 30 minutes. This is a Christian-based nondenominational time of prayer.

To learn more about Grace Lutheran, call 828-693-4890 or visit gracelutherannc.com.

Community service offered

ASHEVILLE – The Community on Haywood meets the second and fourth Wednesdays. It also hosts a Bible and Brew Bible study at 5:30 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. The next meeting is Feb. 18.

Visit http://TheCommunityOnHaywood.org for all events and activities.

On Tuesdays, The Community on Haywood offers a lunchtime program with open discussion geared toward working people. A light lunch is available for $5.

Parking and entrance is behind the church and across Virginia Avenue. To learn more, contact 828-258-0903 or Kent@westashepres.org.

Cove to offer free marriage retreats

ASHEVILLE – The Cove has announced three free marriage retreats for active-duty, Guard and Reserve service members and their spouses. These programs will provide biblical perspective on marriage. Those interested in attending must complete a scholarship application.

The retreats are:

•Feb. 19-20: Building a Resilient Marriage in Turbulent Times with John Cook.

•May 29-31: Building a Lifelong Love with Gary Thomas.

•Sept. 4-6: God and Family: Enhancing Your Most Important Relationships with Gary Chapman.

For details, visit www.thecove.org or call 800-950-2092.

Men’s fellowship breakfast planned

HENDERSONVILLE – “There and Back,” a story by Andy Morris about how God led him and his family to Honduras, will be the subject at the men’s fellowship breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Feb. 19 at Hendersonville Presbyterian Church, 699 N. Grove St.

To learn more, call 828-692-3211.

Learn about contemplative prayer

HENDERSONVILLE – First United Methodist Church, 204 Sixth Ave. W., will host Spiritual Formation Weekend Feb. 20-22. Phileena Heuertz will share tools to help participants stay centered, grounded and connected to God via contemplative prayer.

From 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Feb. 21, she will focus on specific prayer practices such as centering prayer and breath prayer. She will also speak at the 8:30, 9:30 and 10:55 a.m. worship services on Feb. 22. All events are free.

To register for Friday and Saturday sessions, call 693-4275 or visit www.fumchvlnc.org.

Disaster preparedness seminar planned

HENDERSONVILLE – Dr. Paul Williams, an expert in disaster preparedness, will talk on how to prepare as individuals, churches, neighborhoods and a community for times of crisis 9 a.m.-noon Feb. 21 at Hendersonville Presbyterian Church, 699 N. Grove St. Admission is free.

To learn more, call 692-3211.

Panel discussion on film ‘Selma’ Feb. 22

ASHEVILLE – Carolina Jews for Justice/West will sponsor a panel discussion of the acclaimed film “Selma” at 2 p.m. Feb. 22 at the YMI Cultural Center, 39 S. Market St.

“Over 50 years ago, the YMI introduced its first tag line, The Gathering Place,” said YMI Board Chair Sharon West. “This name was appropriate in that it reinforced the YMI’s role as a safe place for all to come together to share, to discuss, to take action, to encourage, to affirm. This tagline remains true today.

“‘Selma’ is a great entree into such discussions relative to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight for voting rights and other topics of equity,” West said. “The YMI welcomes these discussions.”

The African-American, Jewish and white non-Jewish panelists will share their perspectives as Freedom Riders, civil rights organizers and native southerners during the civil rights era.

To learn more, e-mail wncjewsforjustice1@gmail.com.

St. John’s hosts discussion series on Islam

ASHEVILLE – St. John’s Episcopal Church, 290 Old Haw Creek Road, will host a five-week series to increase knowledge of Islam. Classes meet at 10 a.m. Sundays.

On Feb. 22 and March 1, watch “Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet,” the PBS documentary. On March 8, Kathy Meacham, professor of ethics and religion at Mars Hill University, will lead discussion.

On March 15, Khalid Bashir, imam of the Asheville Islamic Center, will lead discussion. On March 22, Rev. Ross Jones will discussion.

To learn more, call 298-3553 or visit www.st.johnsasheville.org.

MLK Prayer Breakfast Feb. 28

BLACK MOUNTAIN – The annual Martin Luther King Prayer Breakfast, sponsored by the Swannanoa Valley Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Corporation, will be at 8 a.m. Feb. 28 at Camp Dorothy Walls on North Fork Road.

Tyrone Greenlee, an Asheville native and community activist, will be the featured speaker. Greenlee serves on the boards of Just Economics of Western North Carolina and Green Opportunities, among other involvements.

Music will be provided by the Mills Chapel choir. Ten Thousand Villages at Montreat Conference Center will donate a percentage of its sales on Feb. 28 to the nonprofit’s scholarship fund.

Tickets are $15, or $6 for ages 3-12, at the Black Mountain Chamber of Commerce. Visit www.svmlk.org.

Choral Evensong set for March 1

HENDERSONVILLE – The choir of St. James Episcopal Church, 766 N. Main St., will sing Choral Evensong for Lent at 5 p.m. March 1, including music by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Peter Aston, Richard Ayleward and Jane Marshall.

The service will be followed by a flute and guitar recital by Duo de Vista from Columbia, S.C., featuring Teri Forscher-Milter and Marina Alexandra.

No tickets required; donations appreciated. To learn more, call Brad Gee at 828-694-6925.

Rabbi visits MHU, Asheville

MARS HILL – Mars Hill University will host a free program called “The Many Paths to a Heart of Wisdom” at 6 p.m. March 3 in Bentley Fellowship Hall with Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer, director of the department of multifaith studies and initiatives at Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia.

The program will explore the traditions of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Christianity “with respect to the ways they help people do the inner work needed for moral excellence,” according to a press release.

The program follows two and a half days of free public events with Rabbi Fuchs-Kreimer. She will speak at 11 a.m. March 3 at Mars Hill’s Crossroads chapel service; at 7 p.m. March 1 at Congregation Beth Israel, 229 Murdock Ave., Asheville; and at 7 p.m. March 2 in Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall, at UNC Asheville.

Spiritual awakening set for Fridays

HENDERSONVILLE – A spiritual awakening program begins at 6:30 p.m. Fridays at Hendersonville Presbyterian Church, 699 N. Grove Street. It’s free and open to the public.

The church opens its doors at 6 p.m. for prayer, followed by a mix of worship, teaching, prayer and ministry featuring local, national and international pastors and ministry leaders who will help train new leadership for the renewal movement.

To learn more, call 692-3211.

Community garden seeks volunteers for 2015

ASHEVILLE – The Sand Hill Community Garden at the Buncombe County Sports Park in Enka is seeking members for the 2015 growing season. In 2014, the gardeners grew and donated 1,307 pounds of produce to Montmorenci United Methodist Church’s weekly senior meals and community welcome table.

Members also took home fresh produce to their families to provide low cost, healthy meals. The membership fee of $15 a person or $25 a family keep the garden growing by providing seeds, plant starts and other supplies.

To learn more, call Lynn Pegg at 250-6707 or e-mail Elaine Sargent at esargent0412@gmail.com.

Kids for Christ offered every Wednesday

WEAVERVILLE – The Kids for Christ children’s program, offered 2:30-7 p.m. Wednesdays during the school year at First Baptist Church, 63 N. Main St., has now resumed. The program is for grades one-six.

The program includes a snack, recreational time, homework help, Bible study, choir and hand bells by invitation. An optional supper is $2 per child and $3.50 per adult. After supper, mission groups are planned. Register with Joy Sprinkle or Aileen Lawrimore at 828-645-6720.

Meditation days at Cloud Cottage

BLACK MOUNTAIN – Monthly family night at Cloud Cottage Community of Mindful Living, 219 Old Toll Circle, 6-7:30 p.m. the second Wednesday of each month, is open to families with children of all ages.

The next meeting is Feb. 11. Meditation gatherings are held every Wednesday at the center.

On family night, the Rev. Judith Toy will entertain children with stories, songs and snacks while parents have the opportunity to meditate. The children then will rejoin their parents for walking meditation and discussion.

“Mindfulness is a life skill that every child should learn early on,” the Rev. Toy said. “The Dalai Lama said that if every 8-year-old on the planet learned to meditate, we would have world peace within one generation.”

From 7-8:30 p.m. the second and fourth Mondays of each month, Roger Shikan Hawkins offers a 10-minute meditation followed by an informal discussion, intended as a relaxed experience for people intimidated by the formality of the hall. Hawkins is an ordained Dharma teacher and author of “Great Doubt, the Spirit of Self-Inquiry.”

To learn more, visit www.cloudcottage.org or call 828-669-6000. All events are offered by donation.

Mills River Presbyterian hosts GROW

MILLS RIVER – On Jan. 8, Mills River Presbyterian Church hosted the first in a series of presentations related to the church’s Garden Rolling on Wheels project, or GROW. The presentation discussed the Farm Bill.

“Anyone who consumes food, pays taxes and is concerned about their personal health will gain a great deal of information at these sessions,” said pastor Randall Boggs. “The GROW program was designed to inform the community about food policy (production and distribution) and to inspire healthier food choices.”

The series continues in March with a talk on “Healthier Food Choices.” To learn more, call 891-7101. The church is at 10 Presbyterian Church Road, off School House Road.

Help provide socks for seniors

HENDERSONVILLE – Opportunity House, 1411 Asheville Highway, is a drop-off location for Socks for Seniors. This project is sponsored by the Hendersonville Single Women’s Club. Bring in a new pair of winter socks 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

To learn more, visit www.opportunityhouse.org or call 692-0575.

Breakfast Bible study

seeks members

HENDERSONVILLE – A Christian Men’s Breakfast Bible Study is open for new members. The ecumenical group meets at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays at the Dixie Diner on U.S. 64 West in Laurel Park.

Every week, the four Scriptures from the weekly lectionary used in most Christian liturgical churches are discussed. Participants should bring their Bible of choice.

Participants buy their own breakfast. To learn more, call Bob Andersen at 828-697-0464.

Cloud Cottage holds meditation

BLACK MOUNTAIN – Following is the weekly schedule for mindfulness meditation at Cloud Cottage Community of Mindful Living, 219 Old Toll Circle. To learn more, call 828-669-6000 or visit cloudcottage.org:

•Peaceful abiding: 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

•Meditation in the Plum Village tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh: 6 p.m. Wednesdays.

•Meditation in the Japanese Zen tradition: 8 a.m. Sundays, followed by book study until 10 a.m., hosted by the Rev. Judith Toy.

Rabbi leads history-rich tour

ASHEVILLE – Rabbi Batsheva Meiri, of Congregation Beth HaTephila, will lead a tour of Eastern European sites, “Jewish Roots Journey to Europe,” from April 18-30. The group will consist of about 25-30 people, in addition to the rabbi and the tour guide.

The tour will explore Jewish history, European culture and Jewish communities from Warsaw to Prague to Budapest. In each country, the group will trace the Jewish roots and hear personal insights and reflections on the past, present and future.

Trip highlights include paying tribute to the six million at Auschwitz, visiting Europe’s oldest synagogue in the Old Jewish Quarter of Prague, celebrating Shabbat with members of the Prague Jewish community, visiting the hot springs pools in Budapest and cruising on the Danube River.

Meiri will partner with Keshet, the Center for Educational Tourism, for the tour. To learn more, including costs, accommodations and exact itinerary, email admin@bethhattephila or call 253-4911.

Grief and Beyond

helps people adjust

WAYNESVILLE – The Grief and Beyond support group, for people who have lost loved ones, meets 4:30-6 p.m. every Thursday at Long’s Chapel United Methodist Church.

Sessions are facilitated by social worker Jan Peterson and include video segments and personal sharing. There is no charge. In a support group, you are not required to talk or cry, but you will be in a safe place where you won’t feel embarrassed if you do.

To learn more, call Peterson at 828-550-3638 or Tim McConnell at Long’s Chapel UMC at 828-456-3993, ext. 17.

Food ministry needs donations

CANTON – Rose of Sharon Ministries, North Canton Road, is open to anyone who needs a helping hand. Donations are needed to fulfill its mission.

The warehouse is open 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday or by appointment. Nonperishable food items are needed.

To make donations, call 828-400-2261.

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Shooting victims among 5 honored before Virginia-NC State

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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The three people killed in a shooting in Chapel Hill were among five people honored with a moment of silence before Wednesday’s game between No. 2 Virginia and North Carolina State.

Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad, 21, and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, died in Tuesday’s shooting.

The couple were newlyweds who met while running the Muslim Student Association at N.C. State. He was pursuing an advanced degree in dentistry at North Carolina, and she was going to join him in UNC’s dentistry school this fall.

Abu-Salha was a N.C. State student who was visiting them at the condominium complex.

N.C. State students wore green ribbons in their honor. And Wolfpack starting freshman forward Abdul-Malik Abu, also a Muslim, knew Barakat and Mohammad.

Abu posted a photo on Instagram of himself with the couple earlier Wednesday, with a caption saying he attended their wedding and thanking Barakat for showing “unconditional love.”

After the game, Abu said he met Barakat during his recruiting visit.

“He was one of the people that you see that make an impact on your life right away with his happiness, his joy, his support for me before I got to State,” Abu said. “Then when I got to State, always excited to see me, always ready to spread good and positive vibes. He ran many charities. Overall, he was just a world-class person.”

N.C. State also honored retired Hall of Fame coach Dean Smith — who coached rival North Carolina — after his death Saturday; and former area and Wolfpack sports broadcaster Don Shea, who died last week.

Virginia beat N.C. State 51-47.

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