Are millions of plastic water bottles getting recycled? Why hasn’t UNC Asheville fully reopened? Craven Street bridge and Tunnel Road bridge reopening estimates? • Asheville Watchdog
Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers:
Question: What’s to become of all the plastic bottles that we’re all forced to use for our drinking water? I recall that recently one of the major recycling companies in our area declared that there is no market for recycling plastic bottles. Is that true nationally and/or internationally? Are local landfills big enough to bury all the plastic we’re generating? I fear we are trading one environmental disaster for another one.
My answer: I just know that I’m giving out empty water bottles to everyone I know for Christmas this year. They make great stocking stuffers, you know. You can also make an entire fake Christmas tree out of them.
Real answer:Abe Lawson, president of Curbside Management, the main recycling handler in our area, first noted that, yes, “There has been an abundance of bottles and other recyclables being produced as a result of the storm and aftermath.” The company is most often called “Curbie,” by the way.
In the daily Helene briefings, Asheville City Manager Debra Campbell has offered a running tab on plastic water bottle and carton disbursements, noting Monday it stood at 3.5 million. So that’s a lot of plastic hitting the stream (Curbie also recycles cartons).
But as we reported in August, Curbie does have a good market for plastic bottles and tubs, so that material does get recycled. That’s really the key wherever you live — if the recycling handler has a good market, materials get recycled.
Abraham Lawson, co-owner of Curbside Management, said “We have plenty of capacity to bring all of those bottles into our facility to process and ensure that they are properly recycled.” // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego
“We have plenty of capacity to bring all of those bottles into our facility to process and ensure that they are properly recycled,” Lawson said via email. “Markets may go up and down on plastics and other commodities. However, we have and will always accept plastic bottles for recycling.”
You can recycle them through the regular means of recycling you use. Also, after Helene, Curbie has been offering a drop-off center at its 116 North Woodfin Ave. facility for residential recyclable materials only. For the time being, it’s available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Back in the summer, Lawson noted that recycling plastic really comes down to your local recycling company, and whether it can find a market for plastic bottles, tubs, yogurt cups, milk jugs and more. Curbie does have a good market regionally for these plastics, called polyethylene terephthalate or PET.
“We’ve got three or four different vendors that we ship to, and those three or four vendors are either turning that PET into carpet, or some of them are grinding it up and washing it and turning it into a flake or pellet, that can be really turned back into anything,” Lawson said in August. “But carpet is probably the largest consumer of that plastic in this region.”
Question: Why hasn’t UNC Asheville returned to in-person, face-to-face classes? All the other colleges and universities in the area that were impacted by the storm, as well as Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools, are having face-to-face classes. At the university, courses that involve such things as lab sciences or musical performance groups are impacted to a very high degree. I’ve heard that there is great dissatisfaction among students and their parents as well as many faculty. These students lived through distance education during COVID and are extremely frustrated. I was told by someone with campus connections that many students are considering transferring. What is the university’s explanation for why they have continued with online classes? Will there be any level of refund of either tuition or student fees based on the current situation?
Not recommended
My answer: Back in my day, we used beer instead of water in college — for everything. Toothbrushing? Beer. Making coffee? Beer. Cooking spaghetti? Beer. I once watered my weed plants with beer. They thrived.
Real answer: John Dougherty, chief of staff and general counsel at UNC Asheville, answered this one. He said the university made the decision on Oct. 9 to transition to online instruction for the remainder of the semester.
“This decision was based on ensuring the safety and continuity of education for all our students,” Dougherty said. “We communicated this decision well in advance, before classes resumed on Oct. 28, to provide clarity and allow ample time for faculty to adapt their courses. At the time, the outlook on water availability in Asheville was uncertain, making it challenging to plan for a full return to in-person operations.”
The shift was vital to maintain academic access for students, he added.
“Following Hurricane Helene, some of our students, faculty and staff, experienced damage to property, loss of housing and transportation, and other significant barriers including relocation, like many members of our Asheville community,” Dougherty said. “The flexibility of online learning has allowed these members of our community to continue their work and studies without further interruption.”
He said faculty have been able to engage with students in “innovative ways,” and the quality of instruction “has not diminished across the online format.” Faculty have restructured courses with a mix of synchronous (real-time) and asynchronous (self-paced) instruction.
Aerial view of the UNC Asheville campus, pre-Helene // photo courtesy UNCA
“Regarding financial considerations, we have communicated information about housing, dining, and parking credits as well as a spring tuition grant for our students,” Dougherty said. “Additionally, the university has encouraged our students to apply for emergency grants for students made available by the North Carolina General Assembly.”
You can find more information about the grants and credits here.
Those grants and credits, Dougherty said, are in addition to more than $300,000 that UNCA distributed to impacted students and employees through institutional hardship grants funded through private philanthropy.
Students with concerns can send an email to helene@unca.edu, Dougherty said, or they can contact the Dean of Students Office.
In a Nov. 13 press release, the university noted that safe drinking water had returned to campus. Safe drinking water returned to the rest of Asheville Nov. 18.
UNCA started working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about a month ago to construct a temporary water treatment facility on campus. The university also consulted with the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure the water is safe to drink.
Question: Can we get an update on the Craven Street bridge? What is the damage? When will it be reopened? Also, can you share more about the bridge by the Veterans Restoration Quarters, and give us an update on how progress is being made there for restoration?
My answer: Thanks. Now I have Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” stuck in my brain. That’s a real sapfest, you know.
Real answer: Regarding the Craven Street Bridge, NCDOT resident engineer Tom Veazey said the contract for the repair has been advertised and they are awaiting bids.
“The repairs on this one are very straightforward, so it should be open within a couple weeks once crews begin,” Veazey said. “The alternate routes include the Haywood Road Bridge and Lyman Street to access Riverside Drive.”
Veazey also had good news about the Tunnel Road Bridge near VRQ. Major repairs were to wrap up last week.
“Then, crews will begin placement of roadway fill (this) week, with hopes of placing asphalt and opening the bridge by the end of November,” Veazey said.
Both bridges sustained damage from the Sept. 27 floodwaters of Tropical Storm Helene.
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/
SUMMARY: Jim Jenkins, a North Carolina baseball trailblazer and Negro Leagues player, exemplified resilience and excellence both on and off the field. His sons recall his superior skills—hitting, running, and catching—and how he faced challenges due to his skin color. Beyond baseball, Jenkins was a community father, teaching youths fundamentals and helping those in need. He shared a friendship with legend Hank Aaron, often attending Braves games with his family. His legacy endures through his children, who honor not just his athletic achievements but his kindness and humanity, inspiring future generations to carry on his impact.
James “Jim” Jenkins had a profound impact on the game of baseball as a trailblazer known in the Carolinas.
SUMMARY: A scientist reflecting on the politicization of science warns that ideological influence undermines objectivity, breeds mistrust, and hampers public understanding. The FY2026 budget proposal cut NIH funding by about 40%, saving taxpayers $18 billion, but only 1.5% of the total federal budget, while increasing defense spending by 13%. These cuts severely impact states like North Carolina, where science drives $2.4 billion in tax revenue and thousands of jobs. The cuts target indirect costs vital for research infrastructure and diversity efforts, mistakenly seen as ideological rather than essential scientific practices. The author calls for unity to prioritize facts over politics and protect scientific progress for societal and economic health.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-06-15 02:01:00
North Carolina’s U.S. House members voted along party lines on two Republican-backed bills: the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (H.R. 1), which cuts \$1.6 trillion in government spending, and the “Rescissions Act of 2025” (H.R. 4), which eliminates \$9.4 billion from entities like USAID and public broadcasting. Republicans called it a purge of waste, citing spending on drag shows and foreign projects. Democrats criticized the cuts as harmful and symbolic, calling the effort fiscally irresponsible. H.R. 1 passed 215-214; H.R. 4 passed 214-212. No Democrats supported either. A few Republicans broke ranks and voted against their party on each bill.
(The Center Square) – North Carolinians in the U.S. House of Representatives were unwavering of party preference for two bills now awaiting finalization in the Senate.
Republicans who favored them say the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, known also as House Resolution 1, slashed $1.6 trillion in waste, fraud and abuse of government systems. The Rescissions Act of 2025, known also as House Resolution 4, did away with $9.4 billion – less than six-tenths of 1% of the other legislation – in spending by the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Corp. for Public Broadcasting (PBS, NPR), and other entities.
Democrats against them say the Department of Government Efficiency made “heartless budget cuts” and was an “attack on the resources that North Carolinians were promised and that Congress has already appropriated.”
Republicans from North Carolina in favor of both were Reps. Dr. Greg Murphy, Virginia Foxx, Addison McDowell, David Rouzer, Rev. Mark Harris, Richard Hudson, Pat Harrigan, Chuck Edwards, Brad Knott and Tim Moore.
Democrats against were Reps. Don Davis, Deborah Ross, Valerie Foushee and Alma Adams.
Foxx said the surface was barely skimmed with cuts of “$14 million in cash vouchers for migrants at our southern border; $24,000 for a national spelling bee in Bosnia; $1.5 million to mobilize elderly, lesbian, transgender, nonbinary and intersex people to be involved in the Costa Rica political process; $20,000 for a drag show in Ecuador; and $32,000 for an LGBTQ comic book in Peru.”
Adams said, “While Elon Musk claimed he would cut $1 trillion from the federal government, the recissions package amounts to less than 1% of that. Meanwhile, House Republicans voted just last month to balloon the national debt by $3 trillion in their One Big Ugly Bill. It’s fiscal malpractice, not fiscal responsibility.”
House Resolution 1 passed 215-214 and House Resolution 4 went forward 214-212. Republican Reps. Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky were against the One Big Beautiful Bill and Republican Reps. Mark Amodei of Nevada, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Nicole Malliotakis of New York and Michael Turner of Ohio were against the Rescissions Act.
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: Centrist
The article presents a straightforward report on the partisan positions and voting outcomes related to two specific bills, highlighting the contrasting views of Republicans and Democrats without using loaded or emotionally charged language. It neutrally conveys the Republicans’ framing of the bills as efforts to cut waste and reduce spending, alongside Democrats’ critique of those cuts as harmful and insufficient fiscal discipline. By providing direct quotes from representatives of both parties and clearly stating voting results, the content maintains factual reporting without promoting a particular ideological stance. The balanced presentation of arguments and absence of editorializing indicate a commitment to neutrality rather than an intentional partisan perspective.
