Today’s round of Helene questions, my replies and the real answers:
Question: I have a question for the Answer man. I heard the Ingles Distribution Center in Black Mountain was flooded during Helene. Did they lose a lot of inventory? How have they been able to reopen?
My answer: Man, as usual, I just could not get Ingles to stop talking to me about this.
Real answer: I got no response from an Ingles designated spokesperson. I did drive out to the distribution center the week following Helene, and by mid-week it was back open, at least partially.
A worker told me it was back up and functioning.
But it was clear the massive distribution center took a serious blow. Mud and dirt remained in the parking lot. The storm clearly hit the company hard.
On Oct. 2, Ingles posted that the company “is devastated by the catastrophic damage from Helene.
“Unprecedented destruction and tragic loss of life have touched every town, city, community, and business,” the post continued. “Our hometown Black Mountain, North Carolina, which houses our distribution center was one of these areas. We had loss of power, critical infrastructure, transport vehicles, inventory, and yes even loss of life. We were all severely impacted.”
The company has nearly 200 stores in six Southeastern states, and the company noted it had “stores in our region with significant damage and some stores still without power and water.
“We are working diligently to bring operations back online and begin helping our community. Ingles is known for being there when hard times fall, it is part of our fabric to respond,” the post continued. “At this time when we are reliant, we are grateful to our vendors, media partners and charity organizations we have coming to help us.”
An Oct. 19 Facebook post gave more insight.
“Ingles continues to make huge strides in our progress to bring our distribution center to full capacity,” the post stated. “While the losses were significant, only eight days after the devastation Ingles markets began to ship groceries to stores. This along with an incredible team of associates, vendors, and other distribution partners most of our stores are open. As we continue to make progress you will see more and more Ingles Trucks on the road…Give a wave or a honk; like you they are excited to be back to work.”
Ingles has hosted charitable events and food giveaways, and partnered with groups such as the Red Cross, MANNA Food Bank, Hearts With Hands, and Samaritan’s Purse to help flood victims.
As of Oct. 24, Ingles’ website listed four stores as still temporarily closed. They’re in Swannanoa, Morganton, Newland and Spruce Pine. // Watchdog photo by John Boyle
As of Oct. 24, Ingles’ website listed four stores as still temporarily closed. They’re in Swannanoa, Morganton, Newland and Spruce Pine.
From my store in Fletcher, it’s been pretty evident that Ingles has had trouble stocking some items, including the ice cream I badly want right now but certainly do not need.
By the way, the online news publication The Assembly, based in Raleigh, had an excellent report on Ingles Oct. 8 titled, “A Homegrown Grocery Giant Stumbles After Helene.”
It noted: “The company’s distribution center and corporate offices sit on the banks of the Swannanoa River, which crested at over 26 feet, a level not seen since 1791 and roughly 10 feet higher than the National Weather Service’s major flood stage.”
The article also said of the distribution center, “aerial footage from September 30 shows its parking lots coated in mud.”
Question: I live in Asheville but my water comes from Woodfin. I am getting water, thankfully. However, while the city of Asheville has been very proactive with their daily water updates, Woodfin has not. Phone calls go unanswered and the last system update on their website is dated Oct. 13. I’m following Asheville’s guidance for now, but it would be nice to get some details from Woodfin. Is the water safe for bathing, dishwashing and/or laundry? What’s happening with the treatment facility? And what’s the timeframe for restoration of full service?
My answer: I feel like if I answer this poorly, I might get censured by the town board.
Real answer: First of all, a point of clarification.
“Woodfin Water is a separate water authority and not part of town government,” Woodfin Town Manager Shannon Tuch told me via email.
She referred me to Seth Eckard, the Woodfin Water District’s executive director.
“I’m pleased to inform you that the Woodfin Water District has fully restored water service to all customers,” Eckard said via email Oct. 21. “As of late last week, we’ve successfully repaired all known water line breaks and leaks throughout the service area.”
Eckard said the Woodfin Water Plant is operating “at full capacity and has been consistently producing high-quality water since the storm.
The Woodfin Water District, a separate authority from the town’s government, has repaired all its known water line breaks and leaks, but customers remain under a boil water advisory, // Watchdog photo by Keith Campbell
“In addition, our system is currently supplemented by water from the City of Asheville, which means we will remain under a mandatory boil water notice until the city lifts its advisory,” Eckard said. “While this notice is in effect, we ask our customers to boil water for at least one minute before consumption.”
The water is safe for non-consumption uses such as washing clothes, dishes, and bathing, but don’t drink it.
Eckard said he’s “sorry to hear about any customer who had difficulty reaching us.” He noted that the office is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, and you can reach it at 828-253-5551.
“Additionally, we regularly post updates on our Facebook page, website (woodfinwater.com), and via our text alert system,” Eckard said. “Customers interested in receiving real-time alerts can find instructions on how to sign up by visiting our website.”
Question: I am seeing people talking about this article from Black Mountain News from 2017 and stating that the bypass line for the current Asheville water supply is running through the former Chemtronics plant Superfund site. I didn’t know anything about this article until I saw it tonight. I’m just wondering what the deal with this is and if there is any truth to it. If so, it seems like something we should know about, and I wondered if it was something you all would consider looking into for an article.
My answer: Yes, I can see where a water line running through an EPA Superfund site could be less than ideal, and maybe newsworthy.
Real answer: It looks like this is not the case.
The bypass line that is carrying the non-potable water to Asheville’s water system comes out of the North Fork Reservoir, in Black Mountain, then into Asheville. This is not close to the old Chemtronics plant, which manufactured explosives and chemical weapons and was placed on the EPA Superfund National Priorities List in 1983 because of contaminated groundwater and soil from waste disposal practices.
The 535-acre Superfund site is closer to the Bee Tree Reservoir and William DeBruhl Water Treatment Plant in Swannanoa, but still not that close, said Clay Chandler, spokesperson for the Asheville Water Resources Department.
“The old Chemtronics facility was at the head of Old Bee Tree Road,” Chandler said. “William DeBruhl Water Treatment Plant is at the head of Bee Tree Road.”
“The Chemtronics property is a couple of watersheds and several miles from DeBruhl,” Chandler continued. “No transmission mains or any other public water mains traverse that property.”
In all, the Chemtronics property comprises 1,065 acres and remains an active EPA cleanup site.
Earlier this month, the agency posted about it and the effects of Tropical Storm Helene on the Superfund page devoted to Chemtronics.
“On Oct. 2, 2024, local site personnel were able to conduct an initial inspection of impacts to the Chemtronics Superfund Site caused by Hurricane Helene,” the EPA stated. “Based on that site visit and several thereafter, impacts to the site were all physical in nature and have no adverse effect on the environmental protective conditions at the site.”
Lots of trees were down and roads damaged, but, “Access is being actively reestablished, including collaboration with local utilities,” the EPA stated.
“The protective caps that cover all of the disposal areas in the Front Valley and Back Valley remain intact,” the EPA said. “All of the capped disposal areas exist in upland areas of the property and they were not inundated by flood waters. The constituents present in groundwater at the site remain contained within the site boundaries and there is no off-site migration.”
The remediation systems in place do not require electricity to operate, so the power outage was not an issue.
“The floodwaters that traversed the site were in the lowland areas near Bee Tree Creek, and no impacted soils or other media was transported off-site during the storm event,” the EPA stated. “Based on this information, no offsite sampling is scheduled at this time. Routine monitoring will continue at the site.”
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Got a question? Send it to John Boyle at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org or 828-337-0941. His Answer Man columns appear each Tuesday and Friday. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.
by Jane Winik Sartwell, Carolina Public Press April 24, 2025
Six months ago, Washington Regional Medical Center in Plymouth declared bankruptcy for the second time in five years. Now, hospital leadership hopes that the facility will emerge from this latest financial hardship by late May.
That’s good news to the 10,713 residents of Washington County who need the hospital to stay in business. It’s the only one around.
The bad news is that it has never been harder to keep a rural hospital afloat, especially one that’s not connected to a larger health system. In adjacent Martin County, Martin General Hospital closed its doors in 2023. Thirteen more counties in the northeastern region of the state don’t have hospitals at all.
Should Washington Regional get through this, it will serve as a rare example of a rural hospital taking control of its shaky finances and preserving essential services for North Carolinians.
The good doctor
When Washington Regional Medical Center filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it owed millions to a long list of creditors.
Dominion Energy is due roughly $300,000. The Washington County Tax Office is asking for over $150,000. Washington Regional also owes money to General Electric as well as a number of vendors, including the company that handles the hospital’s pharmaceutical operations. The full list of creditors includes more than 70 companies and organizations.
Texas-based Affinity Health Partners purchased the Washington County hospital after a catastrophic 2019 bankruptcy that led to liquidation under its previous owners. But by the end of the year, patients were back on the hospital floor.
Washington County, one of the poorest areas in North Carolina, also hosts some of the highest rates of infant mortality and other adverse health conditions, such as obesity and heart disease.
That makes Washington Regional Medical Center, with its 25 beds, a lifeline in an otherwise barren health landscape. It’s why the facility is designated as a “critical access hospital” by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.
When neighboring Martin General Hospital closed, emergency room visitation at Washington Regional increased from 450 patients per month to over 600.
“The importance of the hospital cannot be overstated,” Plymouth Mayor Brian Roth told Carolina Public Press. “Especially since we’ve gotten all the patients who would have gone to Martin General.”
Washington Regional is ‘here to stay’
If Washington Regional did close, residents would have to drive hours to reach the nearest hospital — ECU Health Medical Center in Greenville. The flat, piney swampland on the Albemarle Sound is not easy to navigate, and public transit is pretty much nonexistent.
“We cannot lose the hospital here,” Roth said. “It just cannot happen.”
CEO Frank Avignone promises that it won’t.
“We used bankruptcy as a tool to reorganize our debt,” he explained. “We basically did it for one vendor who was giving us a hard time, and now that that is taken care of, the hospital is doing well. Patient volumes are up. We have a brand new CT scanner so we are increasing cardiac and pulmonary care. We have new doctors on staff. A new OB/GYN on staff. We’re not some fly-by-night community hospital being run by a crook using it as an ATM machine.
“The hospital is here to stay unless it burns to the ground.”
Washington Regional is not currently performing surgeries. Hospitals typically use specialty procedures as a way to generate revenue and offset the high costs of, say, operating an emergency room. The hope is that the hospital will renew surgical procedures at some point, adding a layer of financial security.
Meanwhile, another threat is looming: the $880 million cut to Medicaid currently being discussed by Republicans in Congress.
At Washington Regional Medical Center, 60% of patients are covered by Medicare or Medicaid, making the program a crucial source of funding for the hospital.
If that coverage goes away, the hospital’s finances may be thrown back into peril.
“We treat folks on Medicaid. That’s our population and that’s what we’re designed to do,” Avignone said. “We just have to balance the books. That’s what I’ve been trying to do — and it’s working.”
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
This assessment considers the overall tone and context of the content. The article discusses the challenges faced by rural hospitals, particularly Washington Regional Medical Center, and highlights the importance of public health services like Medicaid for vulnerable populations. It presents a sympathetic view of the hospital’s financial struggles, linking them to broader public policy issues (e.g., potential cuts to Medicaid proposed by Republicans). The emphasis on social welfare and the vital role of community health services reflect a center-left perspective focused on the importance of public healthcare systems and support for low-income residents. However, the piece does not overly politicize the issue and maintains an informative, fact-based approach, which prevents it from being categorized as far-left.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-23 16:32:00
(The Center Square) – State Board of Elections members are to remain the appointments of the governor of North Carolina and not shift to the state auditor on May 1, a three-judge panel in Wake County Superior Court said Wednesday.
The ruling impacts a portion of the third disaster relief bill from the General Assembly, though not the $252 million designated for western North Carolina’s recovery from Hurricane Helene. The 132-page proposal was heavily scrutinized because only the first 13 pages were related to Helene, and the remainder on changes to authority of elected positions.
Josh Stein was attorney general at the time and governor-elect, and Roy Cooper was in the final weeks of his second four-year term as governor. Both are Democrats. State Auditor Dave Boliek is a Republican.
The five-member state board and five-member county boards of elections are typically three members of the party of the governor, and two members of the state’s other major party.
Neither is the largest voting bloc. The state’s more than 7.4 million registered voters have more signing up as unaffiliated (37.6%) than any of the eight permitted parties.
In making the ruling, the court order said state and county boards “exercise executive functions” and paired that with a state Supreme Court ruling on Article III of the state constitution. It says the governor has “control over” the commissions and boards that are “executive in character.”
Critics say the state and county boards side with respective parties, creating many 3-2 votes. The Legislature, in addition to this attempted change, tried also to reduce the size of the state and county boards and change the appointments through a legislative act.
That, too, failed.
On social media, Stein wrote, “The North Carolina Constitution puts the governor in charge of executing the law. That’s what the voters elected me to do, so that’s what I’ll do.”
Cooper issued a veto of the legislation and each chamber of the General Assembly was successful on an override vote.
The duties of the State Board of Elections are not in the constitution. The auditor’s duties are as “prescribed by law.”
Stein, who advocated for cooperation with the Legislature upon taking his oath on Jan. 1 and in his State of the State address, has additional litigation against lawmakers pending Disaster Relief-3/Budget/Various Law Changes, known also as Senate Bill 382.
SUMMARY: Pope Francis’ body lies in state at St. Peter’s Basilica for public viewing ahead of his funeral on Saturday. The public has been gathering to pay their respects, with lines sometimes stretching over five hours. Following the funeral, he will be buried in Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major. A conclave to elect a new pope will begin after May 6, with 138 cardinals voting until a two-thirds majority is reached. The process will be signaled by smoke from the Vatican chimney: black for inconclusive votes, white for a new pope. Francis is remembered for his humility, care for the poor, and progressive leadership.
The body of Pope Francis is lying in state in St. Peter’s Basilica, where it will remain for three days until his funeral Saturday, expected to be attended by world leaders including US President Donald Trump.
His body was transferred to the basilica during a procession earlier Wednesday, and was followed by a service led by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who holds the position of “camerlengo” (or chamberlain) tasked with making arrangements for the funeral and conclave in the weeks ahead.
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