The Asheville Blade

28/10/2025

Locals just experienced a barrage of Helene anniversary remembrances. While plenty were very real grapplings with the grief and trauma we all face, there was also a loud drumbeat of official ceremonies and marketing depicting Asheville as a happy, recovered place that (most importantly) is open for business, especially from rich tourists.

This could not be further from the truth. The reality of the ruins still dotting the landscape hint at a very different story, and a much deeper human crisis lurking beneath the surface. Unlike the storm itself many of these are thoroughly manmade, the product of greed, cruelty and a refusal to face reality. This is a city where the heroes of Helene are living out of their cars and the firefighters who saved so many lives are still badly underpaid.

Asheville is still a disaster zone, as our latest piece (link in the comments) lays out. This article is the first in a series, The Crisis After the Crisis, in the works for nearly a year. Our journalists, and the community reporters we've worked with, have also faced our own struggles with illness, poverty, trauma and burnout as we've put it together. But we have.

Over the coming weeks and months we will lay out the realities too often swept under the rug. From how decisions by elites made the storm's impact far worse to the stories of those still helping long after the cameras left to why some of the most successful measures helping locals are also the least supported. And much, much more.

Facing the truth is, at long last, the only way to ensure we do not end up in another disaster.

21/10/2025

Readers, we're glad to bring you some good news on the local covid front. The Blade is reducing the local covid risk level to HIGH, down from the Catastrophic rates we hit last month. The wave we've been dealing with since August has now clearly peaked and is declining.

This means that, while there's still plenty of covid spread in our communities, it's no longer running as rampant. Some of the strictest precautions aren't as necessary as before.

We saw some potential signs of this turn even last month when rates hit their peak. At the time things could have gone a number of different ways, either spiking further or starting to decline. Fortunately we got the better scenario. But it took more virus in wastewater readings to dispel the uncertainty and confirm which way the situation was going.

Reduced tourism continues to drive lower covid rates in Asheville than previous years. Increasing access to the updated covid shot, with the state health department making it easier to obtain despite the attempts of fascists at the federal level to restrict it, has also helped bring rates down.

But we are still in a covid wave. High rates mean that it's still important, if you can, to avoid packed public spaces with little masking. Wear an N95 in indoor (or crowded outdoor) public spaces. Test regularly, especially if you might have been exposed. Use mitigations like air purifiers and nasal sprays. Get the updated shot however you can.

While this decline is promising, covid remains a real danger. So help keep yourself and others safe.

We'll have more in our next updated covid alert.

07/10/2025

Asheville mayor Esther Manheimer personally thanked Kristi Noem today, in case you're wondering how things are going here.

30/09/2025

Unfortunately, amid the multiple crises our city is in, covid isn't taking a break. Due to the latest public health data showing a rampant level of spread over the past few weeks, the Blade is raising the local risk level to CATASTROPHIC.

Driven by newer strains, seasonal increases in tourism and delusional fascists at the federal level hampering the updated vaccine rollout, covid infections are now widespread across our communities.

This means it's a really good idea to stay home when you can, wear an N95 mask in public and test before meeting people outside your household. Get the updated shot any way you can. Use mitigations like nasal sprays and air purifiers.

There is some sign that this wave may be peaking, as the rate of increase has slowed considerably in the past few weeks. But leaf season's also just around the corner and there's already a lot of infections out there. The more we take this seriously and help each other, the better off we'll all be.

We'll have more in our next updated alert.

27/09/2025

One year ago the people of this area faced a massive disaster. While government officials disappeared, locals banded together to keep each other safe. They saved countless lives and prevented untold misery.

It is a surreal anniversary. Ruins still litter the area. There are locals, homes washed away by the storm or evicted in its aftermath, still living out of their cars. The same landlords who are posting "Asheville Strong!" have kicked out so many that were the true source of our city's strength.

Memorials that are sincere grapplings with the grief and trauma we all face happen alongside ceremonial attempts to sanitize the realities of what happened, the realities we're still in.

The storm itself was beyond any person's control, but decisions by elites made it far worse than it had to be. A massively overdeveloped riverfront, a neglected water system, paltry rental aid, the segregation of public housing, governments that viewed climate change as a p.r. point rather than a threat to be taken seriously. And more, too many more to list here.

A year later, the same firefighters whose heroism was so widely praised are still badly underpaid, but there's plenty of money for police to harass the homeless. Helene survivors live out of tents while glossy tv segments shout from the largest mansion in America that wealthy tourists are welcome back.

Helene was a natural disaster. Far too many of the crises in its aftermath are thoroughly manmade.

If the storm taught anything, it is that hard realities do not go away because those with wealth and power want them to.

But it also taught that we, the rest of us, are far stronger than we know. There is hope in that.

26/09/2025

Heads up, y'all. Remember our experience with disaster prep, coordinate with folks close to you and stock up (without panic) on any supplies you might need. We keep us safe.

The latest tropical forecast. Be prepared. Head over to ready.gov for tips on what to do to prepare for any extreme weather we may experience.

16/09/2025

Regrettably, readers, we've got more bad news on the local covid front. Due to increasing tourism as the season nears its height, newer strains driving increased infections around the country and delusional cultists running public health agencies making the updated vaccine harder to access, risks in Asheville continue to rise sharply.

We are now at a HIGH risk level. Particularly perceptive readers may notice that this week's virus in wastewater graph has the levels rising even a bit past that, into Catastrophic territory. Unfortunately we don't have enough readings yet (state health agencies only log two a week) to determine if we're there. For now, locals should be ready if the next rounds of readings shows the situation getting even worse. Given what's driving this wave, there's good odds that it will.

Stricter precautions are now necessary. Wear an N95-level mask in indoor public spaces and crowded outdoor ones. Get the updated vaccine any way you can. Use mitigations like nasal sprays and air purifiers. Communicate with others, especially those close to you, about what we're up against and what we can do to keep each other safe.

Covid remains a real danger to yourself and others. In Asheville that danger is getting worse, and every action we take to fight it matters.

Link to our updated alert in the comments.

08/09/2025

ICYMI, because this broke late Friday afternoon (as such news tends to), APD Chief Mike Lamb is on the way out.

Asheville Police Department Chief Mike Lamb, in the role for less than two years, is on his way out. He'll be gone before the end of the year. This follows a Blade investigation earlier this year that revealed his extensive role in a 2023 cover-up.

Our investigation showed Lamb played a key role in covering up then-Chief David Zack's unexplained car crash in the summer of 2023: https://ashevilleblade.com/?p=5287

Less than a week after he filed a report about the crash, in violation of even the department's own rules, Lamb was promoted to deputy chief. By the end of the year, when Zack suddenly left, he was chief.

Throughout his career, Lamb's often acted as point man for some of city hall's worst crackdowns, especially on the homeless, protesters and mutual aid workers: https://ashevilleblade.com/?p=4198

Good riddance, to put it mildly.

City officials are already portraying Lamb's departure as a simple retirement. But this is Asheville, where police chiefs always gracefully retire no matter how hated and scandal-ridden they are. This is old propaganda, so it's worth taking whatever they claim with a shaker full of salt.

Back in 2023 APD boosters were portraying Zack, who left amid public outrage and multiple scandals, as a "transitional" figure setting Lamb up for a lengthy reign: https://ashevilleblade.com/?p=4909

Less than two years later, Lamb's out too.

06/09/2025

Unfortunately, due to sharply rising covid rates in the Asheville area, the Blade is raising the local risk level to HIGH. This means covid is quickly becoming far more prevalent in the population, making more activities carry far more risk of infection.

While the post-Helene decline in tourism finally saw the end of a years-long covid wave, rising summer tourism and newer strains have plunged us into another.

So it's time to adopt stricter precautions. Wear an N95-level mask in indoor spaces or crowded outdoor ones. When you can, avoid crowded indoor spaces and limit errands in them. Use covid tests regularly, especially if you're going to be gathering with others. Communicate with those close to you about risks, exposures and the precautions you can take together to collectively limit both.

The Firestorm co-op in West Asheville has free masks and tests available. The updated covid shot is rolling out, but with absurd restrictions placed on it by the fascists in the federal government. Get it however you can.

The more we work together, the more we take covid seriously, the better off we'll all be. We keep us safe.

We'll have more info in our next updated covid alert.