Gimme a break: Asheville Middle School kids need a high-quality recess

I’m not going to sugarcoat this.

Attention all you cyclists, tennis players, golfers, walkers, hikers, runners, rowers, gardeners! Or anyone who likes to go outside for any reason as a break in your day when you have the chance! Yeah, you: LISTEN UP! “Asheville Middle School students no longer get to go outside for a midday break,” local mom Leslie Poplawski wrote for the the Nov. 21, 2012, issue of Xpress. “Some of them are up at the crack of dawn to catch a bus and don’t get home till 4:30. Then they have homework and dinner, and for various reasons (including, sometimes, safety), many can’t or don’t go outside after that. …”

Views from the vortex: Local elders evoke our town

Several months ago, Asheville resident Jim Chatham contacted Xpress concerning a project he was leading. Inspired by Eno Publishers’ 2012 release, 27 Views of Asheville, Chatham challenged graduates of his periodic writing seminar, “Turning Your Life Into Literature,” to take a whack at producing their own verbal snapshots of this unique community. Twenty-one of them heeded the muse and subsequently gathered to share their respective offerings. (photos by Max Cooper)

Mixed mycologica­l messages

I thought it was great to see a mushroom-related shop going up in West Asheville. The Mountain Xpress did a great spotlight story on this unique store. I am myself an avid collector of wild edible mushrooms from Asheville's surrounding forests. The article went to lengths to state that the owners are very adamant that […]

Mushroom Central responds

How clever of you to recognize the Amanita muscaria mushroom depicted on our mural. The muralist chose the species not for any particular psychoactive properties it possesses, but purely for its aesthetic charm. And although it is undeniable that Amanita muscaria has been used as an entheogen for thousands of years in many parts of […]

Free, peaceful and fearless in 2013!

David Forbes should be ashamed of his fear-mongering, sensationalist, urine-yellow piece about Lexington Avenue. Terrorism is the use of fear to further an agenda, and Mountain Xpress has certainly enabled Forbes to do that — whatever his childish point might be. The use of phrases like "blood on the sidewalk” and "bare knuckles or blades," […]

It’s time to protect our children

After witnessing on television the horrible massacre in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, I felt compelled to do something in our community so that school-age children, their parents and teachers will be safe. I have two children: A 9-year-old daughter and a 15-year-old son. Having seen this type of attack happening for some years now […]

Is gun control the answer?

The Newtown, Conn., shooting brought out the gun-control advocates. But is gun control the answer, or must we really look to other areas? There has been little discussion of the mental-health issues and the environment surrounding the perpetrators of these massacres. The sheer nature of these violent attacks on our citizens makes it quite evident […]