DOWN TOWN, A WATCHDOG SERIES
Down Town, Part 4: The Responders
Some need only a little assistance: a bus pass to their sleeping spot, access to a computer, a sandwich, or a kind word. Others are in deep crisis, shouting or crying out in public, convulsing on drugs, or in need of life-saving medical intervention. Still others are just sleeping, but the mere sight of them on a sidewalk or under an overpass has prompted someone to call Buncombe County’s 9-1-1 operators. These scenes play out across Asheville daily, and handling them falls to a small cadre of responders: community paramedics, homeless outreach workers, police and firefighters, librarians, hospital nurses and…
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Answer Man: Merrimon Ave. bike lanes still not ready? Bathroom policy at IC Imagine public charter school?
Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: The usual inquiry: They repaved Merrimon Avenue months ago, and now we still have orange barrels in the bicycle path, the path full of gravel, dirt and junk, and no sign of the job being finished. Not to mention the messed up traffic. Last night I could not even turn on to Merrimon and had to go up to Kimberly Avenue to get home. The mess continues. When will this project get finished? What’s taken so long? My answer: In a brilliant development, the DOT has turned those…
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