The long goodbye

Efforts to end the long-running controversy surrounding Greenlife Grocery and its Maxwell Street neighbors have been plagued by repeated fits and starts and false hopes of a final resolution. But now that Superior Court has dismissed Maxwell Street resident Reid Thompson‘s lawsuit against the city and Greenlife has come up with a plan to take […]

Okie Dokies Smokehouse

Flavor: Old-fashioned, wood-smoked barbecue, no fancy trappings Ambiance: Clean, plain and cozy A drastic highchair shortage in a self-billed “family restaurant” is a serious problem. Then again, it also proves the moniker right: Opened last fall in Swannanoa, Okie Dokies Smokehouse is nothing if not a family restaurant. On a recent Friday-night visit, approximately one […]

Paid to play

Lynda Doucette is the South District supervisor for resource education at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I sat down with her recently to learn more about her career in the National Park Service and her experiences in the nation’s most-visited park. On the job: Great Smokies ranger Linda Doucette […]

The Biz

Perhaps you’ve already resolved to quit smoking, lose weight or just generally be a better person in 2008. But why stop there? Maybe this is the year you resolve to make a career change—or at least take steps to make your current career more successful and meaningful. Going places: Looking for your calling? Life coach […]

Outdoor Journal

Is there a doctor in the house?: Next month, Nantahala Outdoor Center will play host to a Wilderness First Responder course. The nationally recognized program trains participants to render aid when emergencies happen in remote settings. The 80-hour curriculum includes savory things such as wound and infection management, realignment of fractures and dislocations, improvised splinting […]

Beyond rain barrels

“Exceptional” is a deceptive term when used to describe the current drought in most of North Carolina. If it’s so unusual, we may feel we don’t need to plan for a repeat of such conditions in the future. But most climate-change scenarios predict that we’ll probably have more periods of extended drought in the Southeast. […]

Small Bites

Just what is a Super Tuscan anyhow? And can you discern it from a Chianti? For those many, many wine drinkers who couldn’t respond with a confident “si,” Asheville Wine Consulting is offering a class in Italian Wines. “Italian Wine Demystified” is scheduled for the evening of Jan. 17 at Hops & Vines, 797 Haywood […]

All-access pass

Drama fans likely recognize José Rivera as the writer who penned the screenplay for The Motorcycle Diaries—the award-winning film about revolutionary Che´ Guevara’s early life. That film earned Rivera the distinction in 2005 as the first Puerto Rican to be nominated for an Oscar, although his playwriting career began more than two decades earlier and […]

Enough already

I am sick of all TV political ads, in particular those from Romney and Huckabee. I find them offensive. They are playing to only one segment of the U.S. population and say only what their “people” want to hear. Like all Republicans, they are not interested in serving or representing “we the people,” but only […]

Banjo-playing 101

Regarding your recent dreadful review of Joltwagon’s album [“Sound Investment,” Dec. 26], you twice mention bluegrass. Bluegrass is defined by the Scruggs’ three-finger picking style using metal picks. I play clawhammer banjo or frailing style, which is what you hear in old-time music. Sorry you didn’t like the album, but as someone who lives in […]

Life in the fast lane

For a long time, I have been wanting to make this point: When I was taught the driving laws of the state where I came from, I was told that if you choose to drive at a slower pace, to always keep to the right in the right lane. I was also taught if you […]

Asheville City Manager memo regulating Reid Thompson’s visits to city buildings

In this Nov. 6, 2007, memo, Asheville City Manager Gary Jackson informed Asheville resident Reid Thompson that due to “continued inappropriate behavior and comments to City staff on November 5, 2007 … you are prohibited from visiting all City owned buildings with a set appointment made with [the] City Manager’s Office and accompanied by an […]

Edgy Mama: Party Rules

“I usually don’t give unsolicited advice. And if I do, you certainly don’t have to take it. But if you follow my party rules, listed below, I guarantee that your party life will rock. Or at least roll a bit more.” Xpress parenting columnist Anne Fitten Glenn explains how to properly party, parent-style.