avlwatchdog.org – JOHN BOYLE and SALLY KESTIN – 2024-11-21 06:00:00
Asheville Watchdog is bringing you the stories behind the staggering loss of life from Helene, the children, parents, grandparents, multiple generations of a single family, all gone in one of the worst natural disasters to hit the mountains of western North Carolina. This is the seventh installment.
Buncombe County’s homeless advocates feared the worst: Helene would be deadly for the dozens of unhoused people living along the banks of rivers and streams that turned into raging floodwaters.
“We thought that the death toll just in this population was going to be up in the 20s, 30s, just because of how many people camp on the rivers,” said Alanna Kinsella, homeless services director at Homeward Bound.
Asheville Watchdog has identified three unhoused people of the 43 who perished in Buncombe from the Sept. 27 tropical storm: Jody Henderson, an Air Force veteran described by his sister as extremely loving, Calvin “Michael” McMahan, who liked to travel and preach to people he met, and Lisa Plemmons, a cook at an Asheville nursing home who was living in her car and had been featured in a previous installment of The Lives We Lost.
About five unhoused people remain unaccounted for, Kinsella said.
“Did they leave town before? Do we have their legal name? It’s really hard to know,” she said. “It could only be one or two people that are really actually missing.”
The toll on Asheville’s homeless community turned out to be lower than feared. The Asheville-Buncombe Homeless Coalition called a Code Purple beginning the morning of Sept. 26, opening shelter space for anyone who needed it and providing free bus transportation.
Teams that included community paramedics and outreach workers visited homeless encampments to warn people near water and urge them to seek shelter. Advocates were also able to spread the word about Code Purple early because of the persistent rains ahead of the storm.
At AHOPE, a day shelter run by Homeward Bound, “so many people were coming in here at that time because people needed to get dry, they needed to get supplies,” Kinsella said. “We were really able to disseminate that information really quickly.”
Many went to shelters, “and a lot of our campers really moved into the core of town,” Kinsella said.
In the weeks after the storm, advocates have been attempting to account for everyone. Asheville’s 2024 Point-In-Time count identified 739 people without housing, most in emergency shelters or transitional housing, but 219 were camping, sleeping in cars or on the street.
The task has been difficult because some homeless people were known only by aliases or street names.
“It really took an entire community of us to come together and say, ‘Okay, I know that person’s legal name,’ or ‘I only know them by this,’“ Kinsella said. “It was a lot of really having to piece things together.
“It may be a while before we know the full scope of who all from our community, of people experiencing homelessness, have been lost.”
Here are two of their stories.
Jody Henderson
Jody Henderson’s life never was easy, but he “was one of the most loving people you would ever meet,” said his sister, Kathy Henderson Cook.
Her younger brother struggled with bipolar disorder and was often homeless and unable to work. Henderson had a high IQ and was good looking, she said, but the disease kept him hamstrung for most of his adult life.
“He had so much going for him, but he just couldn’t put that grasp on things and just stay with it,” Cook said. “He would float off, and then he would just get kind of loopy.”
Henderson, 63, died Sept. 27, swept away by Helene’s floodwaters, according to his death certificate.
He had been staying at the Veterans Restoration Quarters on Tunnel Road in East Asheville, but Cook said he’d spent a couple of weeks at the VA hospital for mental health treatment.
On the day before Helene, Henderson was on a “weekend pass” from the VRQ and rented a cabin along the Swannanoa River at the KOA Campground. He needed a space that would accept dogs, as he didn’t want to go somewhere without his beloved mutt and emotional support dog, Bullet.
Cook said that on Sept. 27, as the river breached its banks and the water rose, her brother was standing on top of the cabin. An evacuation team had just arrived. As he often did when his situation was dire, Henderson called his sister.
“He called me at 9:17,” Cook said.
Their conversation was short.
“He said, ‘Sis, I love you. The evac team just arrived. I’ll call you,’” Cook said. “He hung up, and he was gone.”
A witness at the campground said “it was around 10 o’clock when the building collapsed and everything went crazy,” Cook said.
Jody Nyle Henderson grew up with Cook in Chesnee, South Carolina, and had lived in California, Utah, Nevada, North Carolina and Texas before returning to Chesnee in 2018, according to his obituary. He attended Chesnee High School and Spartanburg Community College before joining the U.S. Air Force.
He is survived by three children, Cook and another sister, Kristi Henderson Walker. A brother, Michael Kenneth Henderson, died previously.
Jody Henderson’s emotional support dog, Bullet, survived Helene’s flooding and is now living with a friend in Maryland. // Courtesy of Kathy Henderson Cook
“His final days were in a log cabin with his beloved dog Bullet by the Swannanoa River with a view of God’s beautiful creation surrounding him as he made new friends,” his obituary states. “Bullet was adopted by one of those new friends, Chelsea of Maryland, who rescued Bullet from the flooding.”
Cook said her brother easily made friends, including Chelsea, whom he met at the campground. She did not want her last name published.
“He’d never met her. Didn’t know her, but of course, you know — two hours with Jody — best friends,” Cook said.
Cook, who called her brother “Bo,” said his death has been difficult, and she still has “moments where I tend to struggle with emotional issues.
“But as a whole, I know this was a blessing from God,” Cook said, explaining that she always worried about her brother, especially when he stopped his medications and was unhoused.
He would end up in need and then call to come stay with her, she said.
“He would do anything for me — he just didn’t have the ability to fight the disease,” Cook said. “And I don’t hold that against him.”
She noted that her brother suffered from “tall tale syndrome,” exaggerating facts or making up stories.
She and her sister take comfort knowing that Henderson went out with a story that would normally be hard to believe, one involving a historic storm that showed immense power and swept away entire buildings.
They’ve also taken comfort in the outpouring of support from the community, from churches to governmental agencies.
“It was a blessing to have to lose somebody and be as fortunate as we are in a community like we live in, to have people come together,” Cook said.
– John Boyle, Asheville Watchdog
Calvin “Michael” McMahan
Calvin McMahan’s sister feared the worst after Helene when she did not hear from the big brother who never went more than a few weeks without checking in.
Calvin “Michael” McMahan liked traveling to different places and preaching to the people he met. // Courtesy of Pamela Douthit
The last she knew, McMahan, who went by his middle name, Michael, had been in Asheville, said Pamela Douthit of Bryson City. “I was wondering where he was, hoping he was okay, worried to death,” she said.
Douthit said police told the family that McMahan had drowned in the storm. His body was found Sept. 30 on Glendale Avenue along the Swannanoa River in one of the areas hardest hit by flooding.
The official cause of death was “landslide injuries,” according to his death certificate.
McMahan, 63, was the oldest of 10 children and had been unhoused for the past 15 to 20 years, his sister said.
Michael McMahan, far right, was the oldest of 10 children. Eight of the McMahan siblings are pictured in this family photo with their mother, Mildred, front. // Courtesy of Pamela Douthit
“He lived everywhere,” she said. “He had property here in Swain County, but he wanted to travel. He wanted to visit different places, so he decided being homeless was his choice.”
McMahan liked to preach to the people he met. “He testified to people,” Douthit said. “He talked about God and how free we are and how thankful we are.”
McMahan visited his sister and her husband in Bryson City from time to time and would stay for a couple of weeks. “He said he had to do God’s work, so he went on out down the road,” she said.
McMahan had been staying under a bridge near the Swannanoa. His sister said he frequented homeless shelters in bad weather and must not have known about the dangerous flooding predicted in Helene.
Michael McMahan, right, as a child with his sisters, Pamela, middle, and Kathy. // Courtesy of Pamela Douthit
“I guess it just snuck up on him. He was asleep or something,” she said. “I hate that he had to go the way he did.”
McMahan had a son and a daughter in Florida, she said. He had been a house painter and loved the guitar, though he did not know how to play.
“Like anyone else, he made mistakes, but he tried to do the best he could do for other people,” Douthit said.
McMahan had “some trouble with the law…He changed his life, and he started working for the Lord and doing what the Lord said to do. I was proud of that,” his sister said.
“I loved him. He was a good person,” she said. “He will be missed.”
– Sally Kestin, Asheville Watchdog
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. John Boyle has been covering Asheville and surrounding communities since the 20th century. You can reach him at (828) 337-0941, or via email at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org. Sally Kestin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter. Email skestin@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s local reporting during this crisis is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-05-01 13:55:00
(The Center Square) – Diversity polices in state government would be eliminated if legislation passing the North Carolina House of Representatives becomes law.
Equality in State Agencies/Prohibition on DEI, known also as House Bill 171, is in the Senate’s Rules Committee after clearing the lower chamber 69-45. No Democrats supported it, and no Republicans were against.
“Bureaucracy has grown, not to serve but to sort, dividing people by race, sex, background, and calling it progress,” Rep. Brenden Jones, R-Columbus, said in his floor speech for the bill he authored. “It puts an end to the idea that the background should outweigh ability. It stops public jobs, promotions and contracts from being awarded based on political agendas, and it restores the principle that should have never been lost: Can you do the job? Did you earn it? Are you qualified?”
He told the chamber the proposal will ensure hiring and promotion decision based on qualifications. He also took time to explain it will not ban Black History Month, Pride Month or any cultural celebrations; rather, he said, “it explicitly protects them.”
“It bans unequal treatment funded by the public,” Jones said.
Rep. Robert Reives, D-Chatham, leader of the minority party in the chamber, on the floor said, “Rep. Jones said, ‘We value diversity.’ But the first line of this bill says, ‘an act eliminating diversity initiatives.’ You cannot value what you are seeking to eliminate.”
The bill says, “No state agency shall promote, support, fund, implement, or maintain workplace diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), including using DEI in state government hirings and employment; maintaining dedicated DEI staff positions or offices; or offering or requiring DEI training.”
The Senate has passed bills banning DEI in higher education and K-12 schools.
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-Right
This article presents a factual report on the legislation in North Carolina that seeks to eliminate diversity policies in state government, particularly those related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). While it quotes both Republican Rep. Brenden Jones and Democratic Rep. Robert Reives, the tone of the article leans more toward reporting the bill’s proponents’ arguments and framing them in terms of qualifications and fairness. The language used by Rep. Jones emphasizes the idea of “restoring” principles and focuses on qualifications rather than background, which suggests a right-leaning stance. The article does not delve into a detailed counter-argument but merely reports the stance of Rep. Reives, the opposing Democrat, creating an imbalance in the attention given to the two sides of the debate. Additionally, the mention of bills already passed banning DEI in higher education and K-12 schools supports the right-wing position of the bill, without offering a deeper critique from the opposition’s perspective. This focus on the right-wing perspective aligns the article with a Center-Right bias. The content adheres to factual reporting, but the selection of language and emphasis on the arguments from proponents suggests a more conservative stance.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-05-01 08:16:00
(The Center Square) – Taxpayers in North Carolina will face an average tax increase of $2,382 if the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expires at the end of the year, says the National Taxpayers Union Foundation.
Results of analysis were released Thursday morning by the nonprofit organization billing itself a “nonpartisan research and educational affiliate of the National Taxpayers Union.” Its four state neighbors were similar, with South Carolina lower ($2,319) and higher averages in Virginia ($2,787), Georgia ($2,680) and Tennessee ($2,660).
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of eight years ago was a significant update to individual and business taxes in the federal tax code. According to the Tax Foundation, it was considered pro-growth reform with an estimate to reduce federal revenue by $1.47 trillion over a decade.
Should no action be taken before Jan. 1 and the act expire, the federal standard deduction would be halved; the federal child tax credit would decrease; higher federal tax brackets would return; the federal estate tax threshold will be lower; and some business tax benefits will be gone.
The foundation, in summarizing the impact on North Carolina business expensing, says the state conforms to Section 168(k). This means “only 60% expensing for business investments this year and less in future years. State policymakers could adopt 100% full expensing, particularly since the state conforms to the Section 163(j) limit on interest expense and the two provisions were meant to work together.”
The foundation says business net operation loss treatment policies in the state “are less generous than the federal government and impose compliance costs due to lack of synchronization with the federal code and are uncompetitive with most other states.”
The National Taxpayers Union Foundation also says lawmakers “should at least be conscious of any retroactive provisions when selecting their date of fixed conformity.” North Carolina is among 21 states conforming to the federal income tax base “only as of a certain date” rather than automatically matching federal tax code changes – meaning definitions, calculations or rules.
The foundation said nationally the average filer will see taxes raised $2,955. It estimates an increase for 62% of Americans. The biggest average increases by state are in Massachusetts ($4,848), Washington ($4,567) and Wyoming ($4,493) and the lowest are in West Virginia ($1,423), Mississippi ($1,570) and Kentucky ($1,715).
Individual wages, nationally, are expected to go down 0.5%, reducing economic growth by 1.1% over 10 years.
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-Right
The content primarily reports on the potential impact of the expiration of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, relying heavily on analysis from the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, which describes itself as a nonpartisan organization but is known to advocate for lower taxes and limited government intervention, positions typically aligned with center-right economic policies. The article uses neutral language in presenting facts and data and does not explicitly advocate for a particular political viewpoint; however, the emphasis on tax increases and business expensing challenges following the expiration suggests a subtle alignment with pro-tax-cut, business-friendly perspectives associated with center-right ideology. Thus, while the article largely reports rather than overtly promotes an ideological stance, the framing and source choice reflect a center-right leaning.
www.thecentersquare.com – By David Beasley | The Center Square contributor – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-30 21:25:00
(The Center Square) – Authorization of sports agents to sign North Carolina’s collegiate athletes for “name, image, and likeness” contracts used in product endorsements is in legislation approved Wednesday by a committee of the state Senate.
Authorize NIL Agency Contracts, known also as Senate Bill 229, is headed to the Rules Committee after gaining favor in the Judiciary Committee. It would likely next get a full floor vote.
Last year the NCAA approved NIL contracts for players.
Sen. Amy S. Galey, R-Alamance
NCLeg.gov
“Athletes can benefit from NIL by endorsing products, signing sponsorship deals, engaging in commercial opportunities and monetizing their social media presence, among other avenues,” the NCAA says on its website. “The NCAA fully supports these opportunities for student-athletes across all three divisions.”
SB229 spells out the information that the agent’s contract with the athlete must include, and requires a warning to the athlete that they could lose their eligibility if they do not notify the school’s athletic director within 72 hours of signing the contract.
“Consult with your institution of higher education prior to entering into any NIL contract,” the says the warning that would be required by the legislation. “Entering into an NIL contract that conflicts with state law or your institution’s policies may have negative consequences such as loss of athletic eligibility. You may cancel this NIL agency contract with 14 days after signing it.”
The legislation also exempts the NIL contracts from being disclosed under the state’s Open Records Act when public universities review them. The state’s two ACC members from the UNC System, Carolina and N.C. State, requested the exemption.
“They are concerned about disclosure of the student-athlete contracts when private universities don’t have to disclose the student-athlete contracts,” Sen. Amy Galey, R-Alamance, told the committee. “I feel very strongly that a state university should not be put at a disadvantage at recruitment or in program management because they have disclosure requirements through state law.”
Duke and Wake Forest are the other ACC members, each a private institution.
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 primarily reports on the legislative development regarding NIL (name, image, and likeness) contracts for collegiate athletes in North Carolina. It presents facts about the bill, committee actions, and includes statements from a state senator without using loaded or emotionally charged language. The piece neutrally covers the issue by explaining both the bill’s purpose and the concerns it addresses, such as eligibility warnings and disclosure exemptions. Overall, the article maintains a factual and informative tone without advocating for or against the legislation, reflecting a centrist, unbiased approach.
