Letter: This Democrat respects views of moderates and progressiv­es

“Then there’s Mr. Thomson’s concern that my candidacy will cause Buncombe County to lose its only African American commissioner. And though I agree this is an important issue, I felt it was more important to oppose Mr. Whitesides because he voted to subsidize the Pratt & Whitney plant by $27 million of our tax dollars — a plant that will be making parts for one of the most lethal weapons on Earth, the F-35 Lightning.”

Short-story glory

A review of local author Michael Hopping’s new book, MacTiernan’s Bottle. The book’s title is also the name of the first masterpiece. This story will captivate every WNC artist who’s ever worked odd jobs to support their creativity, or agonized over the heartbreaking question of whether to give up their art or not.

Bill Branyon bagged it

As a fellow wordsmith, I was smitten by Bill Branyon’s commentary in the Nov. 2 Mountain Xpress [“Let’s Bag It”]. Henceforth, Stephanie Miller will no doubt curtail her public verbal comments to fewer sentences adorned with four-letter words full of nasty connotations. Mr. Branyon certainly put Miller “in her place” with great skill. Of course, […]