The Buncombe Commission­ers brief: March 17 meeting

For their St. Patrick’s Day meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners may have wished they had the luck o’ the Irish (or at least a stout beer), as the Pack Square Conservancy laid out their plans to raise the additional millions needed to complete the ambitious park renovations — and the state of the economy forced the county to delay consolidating their offices.

The Dirt: Getting your goat

Powerful, potentially harmful herbicides like clorpyralid are not only creepy, they’re downright déclassé. An infinitely kinder and hipper form of kudzu control is Marvin, a veteran weed eater from Wells Farm in Horse Shoe. Kudzu? What kudzu? In two weeks, Ron Searcy’s weed-eating goats munched through most of the overgrowth plaguing this Madison County hillside. […]

I smell smoke

After reading “WPVM’S Vision Stays Strong” [Letters, March 11] and other comments and past news reports, I wonder at this level of defensiveness by Mr. Bowen. When I have encountered this level in the past, I am reminded of what my grandmother use to say: “Where there is smoke, there is fire.” — Rodney Flynt […]

Waggin’ Tales

Photo courtesy of Alisha Silver Photography On Sundays March 22 and 29 Spellbound Children’s Bookshop and Blaze-N-Skyy Pet Boutique will co-host Waggin’ Tales, which gives kids a chance to practice reading with certified therapy dogs. Volunteers will be on hand from Paws With a Purpose to handle the dogs and assist as necessary. A $3 […]

Taking care of BIDness

When the draft Downtown Master Plan lands on Asheville City Council members’ desks sometime this spring, it will include at least one controversial recommendation by consultants Goody Clancy: that the city form an independent management entity to oversee certain public services traditionally provided by city government. Both the management entity and the services rendered would […]