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Once-charming mountain escape now battling homelessness homeowners say turned postcard city into no-go zone

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For years, Asheville, North Carolina, marketed itself as a mountain escape known for breweries, boutique hotels and Blue Ridge views. But residents and critics say a different reality has taken shape in the wake of Hurricane Helene: panhandling at intersections, public intoxication, encampments and an unsafe downtown.

Carl Mumpower, a private practice clinical psychologist, lifelong Asheville resident and former City Council member who served from 2001 until 2009, said the city’s current challenges stem from decisions made over decades.

“Asheville began its efforts to address homelessness at least three decades ago. This effort accelerated in the early part of this century with the first ‘Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness,’” Mumpower told Fox News Digital.

“That plan was ill advised but passed with a super-majority. At the time, I suggested to the council that any plan that removed personal accountability from the helping equation was doomed to fail.”

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Mumpower said the city has continued down the same path ever since.

“That plan and subsequent plans have failed with equal enthusiasm. Homelessness, drug abuse, and related crimes have increased relentlessly under the watch of local homelessness experts and a governing body that is dominated by liberal Democrats and those with an even more extreme view to the left. That lack of balance — the last conservative on the council was in 2009 — has led to a myopic repeat of errors.”

He also argued that city leaders relied on ideas that were not grounded in practical solutions.

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“As regards homelessness, Asheville has a persisting history of pursuing fantasized interventions over more realistic, measurable and trackable solutions.”

The Asheville-Buncombe Continuum of Care, the local, government-supported coalition responsible for coordinating federal homelessness planning and services in Asheville and Buncombe County, said homelessness in the region is at its highest level on record in its latest count.

Data from the group’s 2026 Point-in-Time survey found 824 people experiencing homelessness, a 9.1% increase from 2025. That included 334 people living unsheltered, up 1.8% from the prior year. Nearly 500 others were in shelters or transitional housing, a rise the Continuum of Care attributed partly to expanded emergency shelter and transitional housing capacity.

These “fantasize interventions,” Mumpower said, were accompanied by the city’s pursuit of defunding the police department.

“The council’s political dismantling of the police department — resulting in a 40% reduction due to retirements and resignations — has had a dramatic impact on crime in Asheville,” he said. “Most ‘smaller’ crimes are no longer enforced or realistically tracked, and return on investment costs have skyrocketed. We have officers who earned over $150,000 in overtime last year due to manpower shortages. Enforcement is not possible without adequate, motivated personnel.”

“The direct impact on residents is increased and unenforced crime, direct exposure to intoxication and violent street behaviors, and burdensome taxes and fees to chase the recycled program pretenses.”

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Mumpower said many local residents have simply stopped going downtown.

“The single most common phrase uttered by county and surrounding area residents is ‘I don’t go downtown anymore – it’s nasty, crazy, and scary,’” he said.

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He said tourism also suffers when disorder becomes more visible in the city center.

“Tourism is impacted, and those we attract are often coming here not as families, but as partiers seeking to join the fray.”

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The issue has taken on added urgency in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which devastated parts of western North Carolina in September 2024.

Michael Whatley, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, said the storm worsened hardship in the region and exposed failures in the government response.

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“The biggest issue set that we’ve been dealing with, obviously, is the hurricane relief coming on the heels of Hurricane Helene and the fact that the Biden administration and Roy Cooper, when he was governor, failed miserably to help that situation in terms of following the hurricane,” Whatley told Fox News Digital.

Whatley said that the administration’s clearance of relief funds will assist residents to get back on their feet.

“As part of President Trump’s government response, $1.4B was made available by HUD for housing relief,” Whatley said. “And there also has been over the last month or so a lot of movement with FEMA in terms of the disaster relief that they’re providing to homeowners there.”

“We’re certainly not ready to hang up a mission accomplished sign by any stretch of the imagination. But federal relief that has been put into Western North Carolina is substantially more than has ever been given into North Carolina as a result of any storm by the federal government.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the City of Asheville said that officials continue to focus on public safety.

“This month we launched the Asheville Police Department’s Downtown Plan which will essentially double police patrols downtown – increasing day and overnight patrols and, in some cases, responding along with trained mental health counselors. Our REST Team program is an operational response to mitigate the effects of homelessness,” the city said. “It uses specially trained Asheville Fire Department staff to engage with concerned residents and people experiencing homelessness to problem-solve and connect them to resources.”

A city spokesperson also noted that officials expanded their panhandling ordinance and continue working with community partners like the Asheville Downtown Association and its ADID program.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Cooper’s campaign, the Asheville’s mayor office and the police department for comment.

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How Trump survives: Battling the media, former allies and assassination attempts

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Donald Trump has been written off a thousand times and always managed to bounce back.

He hung on when he first got in the race and was mocked as a sideshow. When the “Access Hollywood” tape came out. When his supporters attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6. 

He outlasted two impeachments and four criminal cases. He won reelection when that seemed like a long shot. He’s the Harry Houdini of Washington. 

And on Saturday night, he survived his third assassination attempt. At a dinner that was expected to feature the president mocking the media, his calm response to being targeted by a heavily armed shooter generated enormous sympathy for him. It’s a dangerous job, he said.

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In fact, he “fought like hell” to continue with the Correspondents’ Association dinner, but the Secret Service – one of whose members was shot but saved by a protective vest – insisted on clearing the room. 

At the same time, Trump has such mounting political problems that it’s hard to avoid the conclusion he’s in a free fall. 

The president is bogged down in an unpopular war and canceled the latest talks. Rising gas prices are inflicting pain at home. He may be losing the redistricting wars. Some of his most prominent supporters in the conservative media have turned on him with a vengeance, even apologizing for having supported him.

That’s not all. The Democrats are virtually certain to win the House. They are talking about impeaching Trump the day they’re sworn in. Sure, he’d be acquitted in the Senate, but his last two years would be a blizzard of investigations and payback.

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What’s more, the president can’t run again. He’ll still have the power of incumbency, but the House can block most of what he wants to do (and this is beyond the media fantasy that the opposition party could take the Senate as well).

In the ever-present polls, Trump has dropped as low as 33% approval in an AP survey, his worst numbers ever.

More eye-popping is a new survey with a large sample, from Strength in Numbers/Verasight, which says 21% of Republicans support impeachment, with 72% opposed. Among independents, 50% back impeaching the president.   

And a Fox News poll found more respondents trusting the Democrats over the Republicans on the economy, by four points, for the first time in 15 years.

This comes against the backdrop of Trump having fired three women in his Cabinet, creating a sense of disorder, and his wife giving a televised speech to deny any involvement with Jeffrey Epstein.

But let’s have a reality check.

Trump’s relentless attacks on the press have taken their toll, with many dismissing the coverage as fueled by personal hostility. And Democrats, with few exceptions, aren’t helping themselves by appearing to root for the Iranian terrorists when our service members are at risk.

By November, the Iran war could be a distant memory. The economy might enjoy an uptick. Even now, with the ceasefire collapsing over the Strait of Hormuz blockade, the stock market has hit record highs.

Trump will use his media mastery to dominate the news agenda. He already takes calls from reporters at all hours. 

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The Democrats, meanwhile, are leaderless. Even if Hakeem Jeffries is speaker, the president will make far more news. That won’t change until the 2028 primaries, when a front-runner or two emerges.

Trump can make news with executive orders, such as moving marijuana to a lower classification and boosting research into psychedelic drugs.

The betrayal being voiced by his onetime allies on the right, who embraced his pledge of no new foreign wars, may be less important for those not immersed in the online world. But it is a bellwether for the splintering of the MAGA coalition.

Now some of its leading members are calling him erratic and reckless.

No one is loving this more than the Democrats and the Never Trumpers, who say wait, you’re just noticing this now? We’ve been telling you this for years.

“Trump looks desperate to run for the hills,” says New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd. “He constantly says he has defeated the mullahs and ‘obliterated’ their military power, and yet Iran refuses to be subdued.”

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What’s obvious, says veteran columnist Andrew Sullivan: “Trump is completely out of his depth. He went to war impulsively. He never expected the Iranians to close the Strait of Hormuz; and then they did. And he can’t re-open it. In fact, he decided to close it again. Or something.”

Throw in the AI image of Trump as Jesus, which offended many Catholics, and the list of unforced errors just grows. He’s even attacked the Supreme Court, a third of which he appointed.

And there is growing concern about the health of the president, who will soon turn 80, with television running footage every time he closes his eyes at a meeting.

Trump regularly talks about building his massive ballroom, which reminds people of his surprise demolition of the East Wing and plans for a monument that would dwarf the Arc de Triomphe. He brought it up after the gunfire on Saturday night, saying the ballroom would be bulletproof and extremely secure.

Trump also used the gunfire at the Washington Hilton to underscore his own importance. Having studied assassinations, he said, “the most impactful people, the people that do the most… they’re the ones they go after.”

Politically speaking, Trump is clearly struggling. But anyone who rules out a rebound for this president is ignoring history.

There will be all kinds of twists and turns in the remaining six months before the midterms, and the Democrats are unpopular as well. 

But here’s a moment of rare consensus: We can all be grateful that the Secret Service did its job well.

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New York woman convicted for throwing dynamite at boyfriend, blowing off his hand as he tried to get rid of it

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A New York woman was convicted after authorities said she threw a handmade stick of dynamite at her boyfriend while he was sleeping, causing his hand to be blown off as he attempted to get rid of the explosive.

Keyonna Waddell, 35, of Deer Park on Long Island, was found guilty by a jury on Friday of first-degree assault and first-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the March 2024 incident.

Waddell had threatened the victim with dynamite several times in the months leading up to the incident, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

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“Domestic violence can escalate to deadly levels, and this case is a sobering reminder of that reality,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement.

On March 22, 2024, Waddell and her boyfriend were involved in an argument inside his apartment, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

After the dispute, the man left the apartment and told Waddell to leave. When he arrived back home, Waddell did not appear to be there, and he went to sleep.

He was later woken up by a hissing sound and noticed a flame on the floor of his bedroom. He then realized that a stick of dynamite had been thrown into his bedroom and attempted to toss the explosive device out of the window, but it detonated and blew off most of his hand before he was able to throw it out of harm’s way.

The victim then ran out of his home to the driveway, at which point he saw Waddell running away.

He was subsequently rushed to the hospital, where the remainder of his hand and part of his arm were amputated.

MAN CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER AFTER ALLEGEDLY SHOOTING VICTIM IN FACE WITH CROSSBOW: POLICE

Waddell was arrested the following day, officials said. Her sentencing is scheduled for May 27, and she could face up to 25 years in prison.

“Thanks to the outstanding work of our prosecutors and the Suffolk County Police Department, a dangerous individual has been held accountable and will face a lengthy prison sentence for this horrific act,” Tierney said in his statement.

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Diego Pavia accepts Ravens rookie minicamp invite after making unfortunate NFL Draft history: reports

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Diego Pavia, the polarizing former Vanderbilt quarterback who was runner-up in Heisman voting last season, has reportedly found a home in the NFL after going undrafted this weekend.

Pavia accepted an invitation to the Baltimore Ravens’ rookie minicamp on a tryout basis, per multiple reports. He doesn’t have a spot on the roster yet, but it’s a start as he looks to crack into the NFL with Baltimore.

Of course, Lamar Jackson, the two-time MVP quarterback, is cemented as the team’s starting quarterback, but perhaps Pavia can stand out enough in rookie minicamp to earn an invitation to training camp this summer.

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Pavia was not expecting to be undrafted this weekend, but he became the first Heisman Trophy finalist since 2014 to not hear his name called through the seven rounds in Pittsburgh.

Pavia won the SEC Offensive Player of the Year and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award for best upperclassman quarterback after throwing for 3,539 passing yards and 29 touchdowns, both of which single-season school records, to give the Commodores its first-ever 10-win season.

Vanderbilt just missed out on the College Football Playoff after finishing 10-3.

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Pavia ultimately finished second in Heisman voting to Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza – the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft by the Las Vegas Raiders. So, what ultimately led to Pavia not getting drafted?

While his personality may have factored in, Pavia’s official height at the NFL Scouting Combine turned some heads. Vanderbilt had him listed at 6-foot, but he was measured at 5-foot-9 7/8, which would make him the shortest quarterback in the NFL if he were to step foot on the gridiron today. The average height is 6-foot-2 for an NFL quarterback.

However, those shorter than the average have seen success, including Minnesota Vikings newest member, Kyler Murray, who went first overall to the Arizona Cardinals in 2019 coming out of Oklahoma. He’s listed at 5-foot-10.

Pavia barked back at critics during the Senior Bowl in January regarding his height.

“Yeah, my size has been doubted my whole life,” he said at the time, via AL.com. “I feel like the only thing the NFL cares about is can you win, and I view myself as a winner. I’ve been fortunate with all these great teams that I’ve had — we’ve never had a losing season. So that’s something to look forward to, I hope, for the rest of my career, that’s how it’s going to be.

“I feel like God has blessed me in so many ways to be a connector, and I feel like that’s one of my superpowers that I’ve got — I can connect. We unite, and then once you unite, you want to play for one another, and once you give 120% effort, there’s no one that can stop your team.”

Pavia’s personality, viewed by some as more cocky than confident, may have played a factor as well. After finishing runner-up to Mendoza in Heisman voting, Pavia was spotted at a New York City nightclub next to a sign that read, “F— Indiana.” Then, he posted on social media a photo with friends and a caption that read, “F— ALL THE VOTERS, BUT…FAMILY FOR LIFE.”

Pavia later apologized for his decision to post that on his socials.

No matter the case, Pavia has a shot now with the Ravens and new head coach Jesse Minter, as he aims to show enough to join the quarterbacks group in training camp. Other than Jackson, the Ravens have Tyler “Snoop” Huntley on the roster to start the season.    

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