🌱 App For Swimming Holes + Local Embezzlement + 60-Day's Of Safety DT

Good morning, friends! It's me, Rose Mendez, your host of the Asheville Patch newsletter — here to explain all the most important things happening in town.

But first, your local weather:

• Friday: A shower and t-storm; warmer. High: 77 Low: 59.
• Saturday: A t-storm around in the p.m.. High: 77 Low: 54.

Here are the top three stories in Asheville today:

1. Prominent western North Carolina environmental organization MountainTrue is urging the public to use the phone application Swim Guide before choosing watering holes ahead of Independence Day weekend. On a weekly basis between Memorial Day and Labor Day, MountainTrue staff gather and analyze water samples from popular recreational swimming areas in western North Carolina, and northern Georgia, before assessing them for safety purposes. (Mountain Xpress)
2. Accountant Danny Dale Tremble, 49, was sentenced on Jun. 15 to 41 months in prison for embezzling $1.35 million from his Asheville-based employer. Tremble, from Conover, has been charged with embezzling his employer, Azalea Management and Leasing, Inc. over the course of eight years from October 2013 to December of 2021. Tremble plead guilty on Feb. 13 to wire fraud and tax return falsification. In addition to his prison sentence, he will serve three years of supervised release and must make $1.64 million in restitution. (Subscription: Citizen-Times)
3. Asheville's 60-day downtown safety initiative has been in effect for more than 45 days now, with contradictory stories on its presence. Downtown business owners have gone on record as supportive of and even grateful for the initiative, which has most famously increased regular police presence downtown. Others remain critical of police involvement and the municipal government policy they feel, has a punitive effect on the local homeless population. (Subscription: Citizen-Times)

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Today and tomorrow in Asheville:

Friday, June 23

• Making Scents At The North Carolina Arboretum (12:00 AM)
• Research Talk & Zine Workshop At Pack Memorial Library (2:00 PM)
• Henna Tattoos At North Asheville Library (3:30 PM)

Saturday, June 24

• Guided Trail Walk At The North Carolina Arboretum (10:00 AM)
• Leah & The Rabbit At The Pack Memorial Library (2:00 PM)

From my notebook:

• The Asheville Fire Department is spotlighting, and offering congratulations to, firefighter Scott Hare, who has been promoted to Captain! (Asheville Fire Department via Facebook)
• BeLoved Asheville's "Dine with Divas" drag dinner is returning to the Highland Brewing Event Center next month, Thursday, Jul. 20, at 7:00 p.m.! (BeLoved Asheville via Facebook)
• Asheville Community Theatre is spotlighting its upcoming production of Bat Boy, featured in this week's Mountain Xpress. You can learn more here. (Asheville Community Theatre via Facebook)

Now you're in the loop and ready to start this Friday! I'll be back in your inbox soon with your next update.

— Rose Mendez

About me: Rose Mendez is a freelance writer. She is studying English Literature at Hunter College. She loves reading, walking around the city, and coffee!