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Will Asheville Muni get FEMA funding for storm renovations? Bike lanes, sidewalks in rebuilt Swannanoa River Road area? Why is I-26 marked east/west when it runs north/south? • Asheville Watchdog

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avlwatchdog.org – JOHN BOYLE – 2024-12-17 06:00:00

Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies, and the real answers:

Question: I recently played Asheville Muni and heard some good news about restoration. It sounds like FEMA will pay for restoring the front nine of the golf course that was destroyed in Helene. Is this correct? Is this in exchange for using the front nine as a potential debris storage site? Also, what is the timetable for restoring the front nine? And what’s the estimated cost?

My answer: I’m still a little flabbergasted that Helene managed to take down hundreds of thousands of trees in western North Carolina but left standing the one stupid tree I hit every single time off the tee on number 13. Every time.

Real answer: Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Chris Corl, the city of Asheville’s director of community and regional entertainment facilities, said there’s not “a lot of certainty yet related to the future of the course.”

“We are working towards a restoration of the Muni; however, to be clear, we still have yet to fully identify funding for the project,” Corl said. “It is assumed that FEMA public assistance funding will be available to restore the front nine of the course, however, not yet confirmed.”

The Muni, designed by noted golf course architect Donadl Ross, dates to 1927 and has a rich history. The front nine, parts of which border Swannanoa River Road, sustained heavy damage from Helene, including multiple greens that were destroyed and fairways laden with a heavy deposit of silt.

The city is working with a consulting firm, Hagerty Consulting, “to work through the process, starting with an official damage assessment.” The city did agree to let the front nine be used to store storm debris, but that “does not have anything to do with the restoration project,” Corl said.

“We don’t have a timeline yet for the project and, unfortunately, we don’t have a timeline for the timeline,” Corl said. “Our operator, Commonwealth Golf Partners, has been working on construction estimates for us to understand the potential costs associated.”

The repairs will be extensive — and expensive.

“Depending on the final scope and scale of the project, we’re currently estimating costs between $5 million and $7 million, the bulk of these expenses being full replacement of the irrigation system and repair and replacement of sections of stormwater piping,” Corl said. “For clarity, the new stormwater work completed this past summer was not damaged in the storm.”

The city had just completed a lot of work on the course before Helene hit Sept. 27. Pre-Helene, the city had secured nearly $3 million for repairs and upgrades to the historic course, and it had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on new bunkers and tee boxes, upgraded greens, and trimming and removing trees.

But not the one that overhangs the 13th fairway.

Question: Since Swannanoa River Road was completely destroyed near the WNC Nature Center and is being rebuilt from scratch, any chance they’re leaving enough room for a sidewalk or bike lane? People used to walk and bike that curve all the time, even at night. The Greenway master plan includes this section, connecting the Nature Center/Rec Pool/Azalea Park with Biltmore Village and the existing Wilma Dykeman Greenway. I live near the VA hospital and have been patiently waiting for that section of the greenway to be completed so I can more safely ride my bike to UNCA.

My answer: I’m pretty sure Tunnel Road to I-240 would be a much faster route, but if you’d prefer not to take your life into your own hands, I understand.

Real answer: The destruction in this area, evident in the photo the reader sent in, is pretty mind-boggling. The NCDOT is on the job, but it’s getting the basics done first.

A reader sent in this photo and asks if the NCDOT may add bike lanes and/or sidewalks when rebuilding the stretch of Swannanoa River Road near the WNC Nature Center. The area sustained heavy damage from Helene. // Provided photo

“The completed repairs — building the road back wide enough for two 11-foot lanes and guardrail — are temporary repairs,” NCDOT spokesperson David Uchiyama said via email. “The permanent repairs will follow in the near future.”

Uchiyama pointed out that Helene is the costliest storm in the history of the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

“The damage in many highway corridors across western North Carolina, requiring restoration of infrastructure within federal reimbursement guidelines, continue to be our primary focus,” Uchiyama said. “Federal Emergency Funds cover most, but not all, of the cost to replace lost infrastructure.”

Improvements such as sidewalks and bike lanes along the roadway the reader asked about remain a possibility further into the future.

“Sidewalks and bike lanes that were not in place before the storm damage are considered ‘betterments,” Uchiyama said. “Local NCDOT engineers are engaged with our federal partners to determine if any types of betterment are eligible for federal assistance, or if alternative funding is available to cover cost of betterments during the reconstruction process.”

Question: In the United States, interstate highways are even-numbered for east-west routes and odd-numbered for north-south routes. On a map, I-26 is way more north-south in its projected route. Why the even number and east-west signage? 

My answer: On a map, I-26 always looks uncrowded, too. I’m more concerned about that.

Real answer: This question arises periodically, I suspect, from people who move here and realize this corridor through Asheville really does not run east-west at all. They are not wrong.

Interstate 26 has evolved from what was mostly an east-west highway into what it is today. In this photo, the Future I-26 section in Buncombe County runs north and south over Reems Creek. // Photo provided by NCDOT.

I went back to Uchiyama for this one, and he noted that the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials developed the procedure for numbering interstate routes in the 1950s.

“I-26 began running east-west from Charleston to Columbia in 1960,” Uchiyama said, referring to those cities in South Carolina. “The interstate expanded from there. The path of I-26 — whether created just for the interstate or as other highways expanded and absorbed the identification — then expanded out from Columbia to what we know it as today.”

I-26 used to end in Asheville, but it’s been extended into northern Buncombe as “Future I-26,” then into Madison County with a new section of I-26 built in the early part of this century and through Tennessee, where it eventually meets up with Interstate 81.

In other words, it’s sort of evolved from what was mostly an east-west highway into what it is today.

Uchiyama cited the Federal Highway Administration, which notes, “An occasional inconsistency is inevitable in a complicated, evolving network. They cause little difficulty for the traveling public. Most motorists are not aware of the numbering pattern; when driving in areas with which they are unfamiliar, motorists choose routes based on maps, signs, or directions received along the way.”


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/.

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Analysis: ‘Valley’ of AI journey risks human foundational, unique traits | National

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www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-02 14:21:00

(The Center Square) – Minority benefit against the majority giving up “agency, creativity, decision-making and other vital skills” in what is described as a valley of an artificial intelligence journey is likely in the next few years, says one voice among hundreds in a report from Elon University.

John M. Stuart’s full-length essay, one of 200 such responses in “Being Human in 2035: How Are We Changing in the Age of AI?,” speaks to the potential problems foreseen as artificial intelligence continues to be incorporated into everyday life by many at varying levels from professional to personal to just plain curious. The report authored by Janna Anderson and Lee Rainie of Elon’s Imagining the Digital Future Center says “the fragile future of some foundational and unique traits” found only in humans is a concern for 6 in 10.

“I fear – the time being – that while there will be a growing minority benefitting ever more significantly with these tools, most people will continue to give up agency, creativity, decision-making and other vital skills to these still-primitive AIs and the tools will remain too centralized and locked down with interfaces that are simply out of our personal control as citizens,” writes Smart, a self-billed global futurist, foresight consultant, entrepreneur and CEO of Foresight University. “I fear we’re still walking into an adaptive valley in which things continue to get worse before they get better. Looking ahead past the next decade, I can imagine a world in which open-source personal AIs are trustworthy and human-centered.

“Many political reforms will reempower our middle class and greatly improve rights and autonomy for all humans, whether or not they are going through life with PAIs. I would bet the vast majority of us will consider ourselves joined at the hip to our digital twins once they become useful enough. I hope we have the courage, vision and discipline to get through this AI valley as quickly and humanely as we can.”

Among the ideas by 2035 from the essays, Paul Saffo offered, “The first multi-trillion-dollar corporation will employ no humans except legally required executives and board, have no offices, own no property and operate entirely through AI and automated systems.”

Saffo is a futurist and technology forecaster in the Silicon Valley of California, and a consulting professor at the School of Engineering at Stanford.

In another, Vint Cerf wrote, “We may find it hard to distinguish between artificial personalities and the real ones. That may result in a search for reliable proof of humanity so that we and bots can tell the difference.”

Cerf is generally known as one of the “fathers of the internet” alongside Robert Kahn and for the internet protocol suite, colloquially known as TCP/IP.

Working alongside the well-respected Elon University Poll, the survey asked, “What might be the magnitude of overall change in the next decade in people’s native operating systems and operations as we more broadly adapt to and use advanced AIs by 2035? From five choices, 61% said considerable (deep and meaningful change 38%) and dramatic (fundamental, revolutionary change 23%) and another 31% said moderate and noticeable, meaning clear and distinct.

Only 5% said minor change and 3% no noticeable change.

“This report is a revealing and provocative declaration to the profound depth of change people are undergoing – often without really noticing at all – as we adapt to deeper uses of advancing AI technology,” Anderson said. “Collectively, these experts are calling on humanity to think intentionally and carefully, taking wise actions now, so we do not sleepwalk into an AI future that we never intended and do not want.”

In another question, respondents answered whether artificial intelligence and related technologies are likely to change the essence of being human. Fifty percent said changes were equally better and worse, 23% said mostly for the worse, and 16% said mostly for the better.

The analysis predicted change mostly negative in nine areas: social and emotional intelligence; capacity and willingness to think deeply about complex concepts; trust in widely shared values and norms; confidence in their native abilities; empathy and application of moral judgment; mental well-being; sense of agency; sense of identity and purpose; and metacognition.

Mostly positive, the report says, are curiosity and capacity to learn; decision-making and problem-solving; and innovative thinking and creativity.

Anderson and Rainie and those working on the analysis did not use large language models for writing and editing, or in analysis of the quantitative data for the qualitative essays. Authors said there was brief experimentation and human realization “there were serious flaws and inaccuracies.” The report says 223 of 301 who responded did so “fully generated out of my own mind, with no LLM assistance.”

Results were gathered between Dec. 27 and Feb. 1.

The post Analysis: ‘Valley’ of AI journey risks human foundational, unique traits | National appeared first on www.thecentersquare.com

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Trump urged to reconsider order gutting agency that gives grants to libraries, museums

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ncnewsline.com – Shauneen Miranda – 2025-04-02 13:00:00

SUMMARY: On March 14, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to dramatically reduce funding for seven federal agencies, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which awarded $266.7 million in 2024. The order aims to eliminate non-essential functions and cut agency personnel to legal minimums. The move sparked backlash from library and museum organizations, warning it would severely impact early literacy programs, internet access, job assistance, and community services. Critics urged Congress to intervene, while the administration framed the cuts as part of efforts to reduce government waste under the U.S. DOGE Service initiative led by Elon Musk. 

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The post Trump urged to reconsider order gutting agency that gives grants to libraries, museums appeared first on ncnewsline.com

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Raleigh City Council discusses transforming area near Lenovo Center, hears concerns

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www.youtube.com – ABC11 – 2025-04-02 08:44:01


SUMMARY: Raleigh City Council is considering a major redevelopment project near the Lenovo Center that would create a new sports and entertainment district with high-rise buildings, restaurants, shops, and upgraded arena facilities. The proposal, supported by city leaders and the Carolina Hurricanes—who agreed to stay for 20 more years—has drawn both excitement and concerns. Students and staff from nearby Cardinal Gibbons High School support the project but worry about pedestrian safety and construction impacts. City leaders suggested annual reviews to address ongoing issues. The council postponed rezoning decisions until April 15 to allow for more discussion and public input.

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New details are emerging about the bold new development that could transform the area around Raleigh’s Lenovo Center, creating a new entertainment district around the arena in west Raleigh.

More: https://abc11.com/post/raleigh-city-council-will-discuss-future-including-wake-bus-rapid-transit-project-housing-security/16114907/
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