News from the South - North Carolina News Feed
Residents of Woodfin assisted living facility with 0-star rating see improvements, credit new management • Asheville Watchdog
The resident leaders of a Woodfin assisted living facility cited for multiple health and safety violations in 2024 say they see improvements and are confident in the leadership of a new management team.
“People are getting better training, there are better procedures, people are being more accountable, and so we feel very optimistic about the future here,” said Marilyn Huff, president of the Assisted Living Council at Harmony at Reynolds Mountain.
As Asheville Watchdog reported last month, Harmony has a rating of zero stars out of four, down from its previous three-star rating, based on three inspections by state and county regulators last year.
Harmony was cited for failing to call 911 for a resident who choked twice and subsequently died, for not supervising or discharging an aggressive resident who physically assaulted other residents and staff for more than two months, and for administering medications late or not at all, according to inspection records.
The facility resolved its most serious violations as of November, and in early December the state lifted a suspension of admissions, citing “progress towards substantial compliance” with regulations. Harmony has paid a $12,000 penalty imposed by the state, and three others totaling $21,000 are under appeal.
“Obviously, some very sad things have happened, and we have been short-staffed, and that’s been difficult,” said Huff, 85, who has lived at Harmony for nearly two years. “But we’re in a new time now.”
New management, ‘outstanding team’
The executive director, Jamie Bowden, arrived in October and is “developing an outstanding team of managers,” said Huff, a retired consultant and trainer in organizational and leadership development.
Bowden “has the skills, the perspective, the experience outside from another situation in long-term health care, and she has the gumption to do her job,” Huff said. “She’s not afraid of letting people go if they’re not able to do the work here.”
Harmony has had a “revolving door” of executive directors, about 12 in the eight years since it opened, Huff said.
Ron Stephenson, a two-year resident and president of the Independent Living Council at Harmony, said of the executive director who was there when he arrived, “I think I saw her face one time. She didn’t come out of her office.”
Stephenson, 84 and a retired university professor, said he’s impressed with Bowden and the current management team and their responsiveness to residents’ concerns.
In a statement to The Watchdog, Harmony said it “appreciates the trust of our valued residents and families. We remain steadfastly committed to continuing to provide quality service to current and future residents in our safe, friendly, and supportive environment.”
Harmony provides assisted living and memory care, which were the subject of the 2024 inspections, and independent living, which is unregulated.
Run by the family-owned Harmony Senior Services started by James R. Smith, a senior housing developer in Roanoke, Virginia, the Asheville area location is one of 45 in 12 states.
Stephenson said he and his wife pay just over $9,000 a month for their two-bedroom independent living apartment at Harmony. Huff declined to provide the cost of her assisted living apartment; the family of the woman who died from choking previously told The Watchdog her apartment in memory care cost $9,200 a month.
Of the 63 licensed adult care homes and assisted living facilities in Buncombe County, Harmony is one of five with zero stars.
Inspection findings alarm some residents, families
State inspectors found Harmony failed to call 911 as required by policy when a resident choked, turned blue, and lost consciousness in July. She choked again three days later, and Harmony again failed to call 911, according to the inspection report. The resident died that evening of complications from choking.
Harmony was cited in April, August and November for failing to administer medications as prescribed to residents with conditions including diabetes, high blood pressure, and Parkinson’s disease, in some cases resulting in worsened symptoms, inspectors found.
Bob Flora, an assisted living resident at Harmony, told The Watchdog he was interviewed by regulators last year and described to them “haphazard” administration of his medications, including late and skipped doses. He said medication administration has significantly improved since Bowden arrived last fall.
“After a few weeks, they were following pretty much to the letter the rules that were in place for giving out medications,” Flora said.
“I want to see the place shaped up and running smoothly, and I think it’s headed in that direction, but there’s turnover still,” he said. “They’re short-handed, and they have to use agency people.”
Flora said it’s difficult to develop a connection with temporary workers.
Huff said of the temporary agency staff, “some are very good, and some are not.”
The Watchdog’s reporting of the state inspection findings alarmed some residents and their families, Huff said.
“A new person who just moved in said it scared him, but he’s settling in,” she said. “I think most of the people who live here are glad to be here and are doing well.”
Exemplary storm response, residents optimistic
Huff and Stephenson said Harmony administrators now meet regularly with the resident councils and resolve their concerns.
Bowden hired an experienced registered nurse health care director and a director of memory care, who “have worked diligently to comply with state identified deficiencies in care,” they wrote in an email to The Watchdog.
How to check out an ALF
Visit the state’s licensure page and search by county or facility name. Click on the facility to view inspection reports, star ratings and penalties.
They said that following Tropical Storm Helene on Sept. 27, Harmony sent assistance and corporate staff. Residents received three hot meals a day, the business manager cleaned out their refrigerators, and staff came around twice a day to flush toilets, they said.
“We like to argue that we were literally the best-cared-for people in Buncombe County,” Stephenson said.
Huff said she’s encouraged by the most recent state inspection in January that found just one issue – a resident not receiving a vitamin supplement as ordered. Harmony remained out of compliance for medication administration but at a level no longer considered a violation.
“The important thing to me is that the new leadership, both the corporate leadership and the local leadership, are on top of it,” Huff said. “Serious changes needed to be made and they are making them.”
She said she and Stephenson “understand what’s happened, but we feel good about where we are and where we’re going, and we’re glad to be here.”
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Sally Kestin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter. Email skestin@avlwatchdog.org. 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/.
Related
The post Residents of Woodfin assisted living facility with 0-star rating see improvements, credit new management • Asheville Watchdog appeared first on avlwatchdog.org
News from the South - North Carolina News Feed
PETA sues American Kennel Club over standards for French bulldogs, other breeds
SUMMARY: PETA is suing the American Kennel Club (AKC) over breeding standards for popular dog breeds like French bulldogs, pugs, and dachshunds. PETA argues these standards promote unhealthy traits causing lifelong suffering, such as bulldogs’ large skulls and shortened faces that impede breathing. The lawsuit cites UK research showing French bulldogs have poorer health, and notes the Netherlands banned breeding short-nosed dogs. Dachshunds’ long backs and short legs also lead to painful conditions. The AKC rejects PETA’s claims, stating it is committed to dogs’ health and well-being. This lawsuit continues a long-standing conflict between PETA and the AKC.
The animal rights group PETA sued Tuesday to try to force the American Kennel Club to abandon the standards it backs for hyper-popular French bulldogs and some other breeds, contending that the influential club is promoting unhealthy physical features.
More: https://abc11.com/post/peta-sues-american-kennel-club-breeding-standards-french-bulldogs-other-breeds/17038437/
Download: https://abc11.com/apps/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ABC11/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abc11_wtvd/
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@abc11_wtvd
TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@abc11_eyewitnessnews
News from the South - North Carolina News Feed
Cellphone use in schools to be regulated under new NC law
Public school regulation of cellphone use is now law in North Carolina after Gov. Josh Stein signed House Bill 959 last week.
The new law prompts public schools to develop a wireless device policy that will limit students’ access to their cellphones and other wireless electronic devices throughout the school day. It will require the Department of Public Instruction to submit a yearly compliance report to legislators.
This completes the legislature’s mission to effectively ban cellphones in schools. This particular legislation was once a social media literacy bill aiming to “protect students in a digital age,” but previous failed attempts at cellphone regulation this session forced lawmakers to adapt.
[Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ alerts and weekend roundup newsletters]
The signed bill calls on schools to require the regulation of students’ use of wireless communication devices during instructional time, as well as education on the dangers of social media, as was intended in the original legislation sponsored by state Rep. Hugh Blackwell, R-Burke.
Wireless communication devices are defined in the bill as “any portable wireless device that has the capability to provide voice, messaging, or other data communication between two or more parties,” and includes cellphones, tablets, laptops, gaming devices, two-way radios and pagers.
While the bill does not establish a policy itself, it requires public schools to develop their own and specifies that it shall “prohibit students from using, displaying, or having a wireless communication device turned on during instructional time.”
It allows the schools to determine the consequences for violating the cellphone policy, including confiscation and further disciplinary measures as permitted by the school’s code of conduct.
President of the North Carolina Association of Educators Tamika Walker Kelly told Carolina Public Press educators are overwhelmingly concerned about the impact of cellphones and social media on the learning environment. Students are technology consumers, and that doesn’t just stop because they are at school, she said.
“It does cause disruptions that are unrelated to the learning of our students, but more so peer-to-peer relationships in the classroom that spill over because of something that happened on social media,” Kelly said.
“Educators do welcome the level of protecting the learning environment, not only for them as the facilitators of teaching in that space, but also especially for the students, so that they have a chance to engage with one another more authentically through person-to-person relationships, but also that they are able to have that focus on the academics.”
While each school will determine its own policy, the legislation will help maintain consistency in enforcement and potential consequences, Kelly said. It also removes a burden from teachers, who have tended to be responsible for setting and enforcing device policies on a classroom-by-classroom basis.
“This actually takes one more task out of the realm of the educator, gives it to the school district to not only train and equip their school leaders, principals, assistant principals across the board, but also school district staff on how to encourage that enforcement because it allows the educator in the room to teach and not have to worry about policing cellphones in the classroom,” Kelly said.
The bill leaves room for exceptions to the cellphone law, including if a device is needed in accordance with a student’s individualized education plan or to manage a student’s health care and for educational purposes or in the event of an emergency if authorized by the teacher.
Some lawmakers raised concerns about the bill’s restrictions. Prior to the Senate’s vote, state Sen. Terence Everitt, D-Wake, said while he was generally on board with the bill, requiring students turn their phones off gave him pause.
“We’ve spent a lot of time in the last 15 years making sure that we promote the proliferation of handguns and firearms,” Everitt said.
“Now we’re waiting on a veto override so we can get guns in the hands of 18 year olds with concealed carry without a permit. We’re making this state more and more dangerous, and more and more dangerous for our kids at school, and what I don’t want is for some child — we’ve all heard the 911 calls, those last moments when they’re calling for help or wanting a kind word from their parents or some sort of comfort — I don’t want their last moments to be spent waiting for their phone to turn on.”
For that reason, it will be important for districts to engage families when crafting its cellphone policy and create it with these safety concerns in mind, Kelly said.
“Parents and caregivers do really have concerns, and one of the reasons why they give their children cellphones is because they have great concerns around school safety,” she said.
“It’s really important to establish guidelines and be overly communicative with parents around their safety concerns so that they understand why we want to have cellphone free learning environments. But it doesn’t mean that students won’t have access to ways to communicate in case there is a school safety emergency on campus.”
Kelly noted that many schools and classrooms have systems like cellphone cubbies or lockers that allow students’ phones to be nearby, but not physically on their persons during instruction time, which could alleviate some parents’ concerns.
State Rep. Neal Jackson, R-Moore, said this very system at Union Pine High School is what gave him inspiration for House Bill 87, one of the first attempts at cellphone regulation earlier this year.
Social media instruction and cellphones
In addition to cellphone regulation, the bill maintained its initial goal of providing social media education.
All districts will be required to include instruction on social media and effects on health at least once during elementary school, once during middle school and twice during high school beginning at the start of the 2026-2027 school year.
Legislators view the instruction as related to cellphone use, as these are a key means by which students access social media.
According to the new law, the instruction must include education on the negative effects of social media on:
- mental health such as addiction
- the distribution of misinformation on social media, methods of manipulating behavior using social media
- the permanency of information shared online, how to maintain personal security
- how to identify cyberbullying
- predatory behavior and human trafficking on the internet
- how to report suspicious behavior encountered on the internet
- personal and interpersonal skills or character education that enhances individual level protective factors and mitigates or reduces risk-taking or harmful behavior
Bipartisanship
The cellphone and social media bill passed unanimously in the House and with just one negative vote in the Senate. Both chambers have strong Republican majorities.
The governor, a Democrat, praised the bill, highlighting its bipartisanship and alignment with a report issued by the Advisory Council on Student Safety and Well-being, a council Stein organized earlier this year with the intention of focusing on student safety and cellphones in classrooms.
“When teachers don’t have to compete with cellphones for student attention, real learning happens,” Stein said in a press release.
“This bipartisan bill gives students a distraction-free learning environment so they can focus on their education, and it provides a seven-hour mental break from the unrelenting pressures of phones and social media.
“Earlier this month, my Advisory Council on Student Safety and Well-being released its first report recommending this step and outlining best practices for creating cellphone-free classrooms.
“It will serve as a resource for our school systems as they implement these common-sense policies. I appreciate the General Assembly’s work here. Let’s keep working together to set up North Carolina students for success.”
This article first appeared on Carolina Public Press and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The post Cellphone use in schools to be regulated under new NC law appeared first on carolinapublicpress.org
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
The article presents the cellphone regulation law in North Carolina in a mostly factual and balanced tone, highlighting bipartisan support and quoting lawmakers from both parties. However, the inclusion of concerns raised by a Democratic senator linking cellphone restrictions with broader gun policy issues, as well as the positive framing of social media education and student mental health, reflects a subtle emphasis on progressive social concerns like student wellbeing and safety. The article’s respectful portrayal of educator and parental perspectives alongside bipartisan cooperation suggests a center-left leaning, supportive of regulatory measures aimed at improving educational environments without strong ideological rhetoric.
News from the South - North Carolina News Feed
North Carolina is hit by yet another climate wake-up call
SUMMARY: Chantal, a tropical depression, unleashed up to 10 inches of rain in North Carolina on July 8, 2025, causing severe flooding and significant damage to roads like Camp Easter Rd. and N.C. 2 in Southern Pines. Scientists warn that climate change intensifies such storms by increasing air moisture, leading to more frequent and severe downpours. Aging infrastructure and inadequate warning systems worsen the impact. Despite this, Republican leaders in Washington and Raleigh oppose renewable energy initiatives, promoting fossil fuel use instead. Urgent public demand is needed to reverse these harmful policies and address the climate crisis.
The post North Carolina is hit by yet another climate wake-up call appeared first on ncnewsline.com
-
News from the South - Arkansas News Feed6 days ago
Real-life Uncle Sam's descendants live in Arkansas
-
News from the South - Georgia News Feed5 days ago
'Big Beautiful Bill' already felt at Georgia state parks | FOX 5 News
-
News from the South - Oklahoma News Feed6 days ago
LOFT report uncovers what led to multi-million dollar budget shortfall
-
News from the South - Missouri News Feed7 days ago
Celebrate St. Louis returns with new Superman-themed drone show
-
News from the South - Alabama News Feed7 days ago
Alabama schools to lose $68 million in federal grants under Trump freeze
-
News from the South - North Carolina News Feed5 days ago
Raleigh caps Independence Day with fireworks show outside Lenovo Center
-
News from the South - Tennessee News Feed6 days ago
Officers run for cover after man in car fired shots at them in Downtown Memphis
-
The Center Square6 days ago
Alcohol limits at odds in upcoming dietary guidelines | National