Pam Bunch

The YMCA of Western North Carolina will host Healthy Kids Day on Saturday, April 14th.  Morgan Neely and Virginia Maziarka of the Asheville YMCA will talk about this national day of fun for kids and parents to focus on healthy activities and healthier habits to make being healthy a natural part of everyday life for everyone. For details go to www.ymcawnc.org.

On the week following Easter Sunday, P Allen Smith - gardening, landscaping and backyard chicken expert, as well as TODAY SHOW contributor - will discuss the reemergence of keeping a small flock of chickens in the backyard. Whether you live in the country, a small town, or a large urban area, it is possible to raise chickens for your own use. Smith will talk about the positive effects of keeping your own chickens and how to get started.

For those who love a good mystery/crime novel, Harlan Coban serves up some of the  best.  His latest, "Stay Close", will make you want to keep the book close to you until you get to the end of the story.  It is a tale full of real characters, with real faults and real baggage, and no superhuman ability to overcome the mistakes they have made.  But the three main characters in this story are connected by something that happened 17 years ago, and has come back to haunt them.

'The Hunt For KSM: Inside the Pursuit and Takedown of the Real 9/11 Mastermind' is a real-life thriller about Khalid Sheihk Mohammad, the FBI, the CIA, and the many others involved secretly and openly in the search for KSM.  It reads like the script for an action movie, combining the edge-of-your-seat twists and turns of the Bourne series and '24' combined -  and then taken up a notch. But this is real.

April is National Autism Awareness Month and this very special book, written by a man with Asperger's Syndrome - a form of Autism - will make you understand much more about the complexities and challenges faced by those with Autism or Asperger's, and the people who come into contact with them every day. "Be Different: My Adventures with Asperger's and My Advice for Fellow Aspergian's, Misfits, Families and Teachers", was written by John Elder Robison.

The leadership of both  houses of the United States Congress have said that discussion of and action on the U.S. budget this year 'seems unlikely'. Considering the state of the United States economy and a budget deficit so high it seems inconceivable,

Asheville-Buncombe Christian Ministries has received a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to participate in a scientific study of a program to help impoverished young people rise out of poverty and increase their opportunities for a successful future. The program is called, "Our Circle" and has been offered at ABCCM for about a year. With this study, the program could become a framework for similar programs across the country. Find out more at www.abccm.org.

The North Carolina Green Travel Initiative
Green Travel is a relatively new concept; but a growing number of environmentally-minded travelers are looking for destinations where sustainable practices are in effect in hotels, restaurants, parks, and other attractions.
NC Green Travel is a new initiative to help businesses across the state that are environmentally-friendly get attention as a sustainable business. Find out how it's done and what you need to do to get on the list. Find out more at www.NCGreen.org.

This weekend at Asheville's BeBe Theatre, it's the Men's Dance Festival. March 24th through March 26th this festival keeps the toes tappin' with a wide variety of dancers, lots of styles and plenty of humor. It is rare for a dance festival to feature male dancers only. But this festival seems to feel right at home in Asheville according to Giles Collard, the festival's founder. Tickets and details can be found at www.ACDT.org.

The Polk County campus of Isothermal Community College is offering a new program in Therapeutic Massage this spring.  Therapeutic massage has become an important tool in the arsenal of healthcare practitioners and can be an important of any patient's health and welfare. Betsy Cuthbertson, Nurse Aide and Allied Health Programs Coordinator, and Melinda Kirby, Massage Therapist and Coordinator of the new program will discuss this new program and the economic advantages it offers for those who may be interested in massage therapy as a career.