Buncombe Commission­ers: Zoning war winding down?

CTS cleanup controversy continues County sells Merrimon Avenue site for affordable housing complex Eight months ago, the N.C. Court of Appeals struck down Buncombe County's 2007 zoning ordinance on technical grounds, saying that the county hadn't properly notified the public and that the county Planning Board hadn't had sufficient time to consider the sweeping changes. […]

Buncombe County to hand off health care services to local nonprofit

Buncombe County has taken another step toward handing a local nonprofit the job of providing primary health care to indigent and uninsured children and adults. The county announced Nov. 17 that it had reached a formal agreement with Western North Carolina Community Health Services to provide basic access to health care for about 10,000 patients […]

Tuesday night fever?

The holiday season is just about here, which means all the usual cheer, gift wrapping, caroling, sugar consumption, goodwill toward men and five weeks of quality time spent with family and friends. Guest are great and all, but sometimes a pleasant Tuesday evening morphs into a painful eternity over the Scrabble board. Or maybe you— […]

Artillery

Emily Crabtree has splayed out her memories through visually abstract explorations of mark-making and paper-cutting for a contemplative exhibition called Fibers of Recollection. In its entirety, the show demonstrates Crabtree's varied skills: drawing, painting and mixed media sculpture. Creating the pieces over a period of months, allowed Crabtree to let the work evolve itself, rather […]

Junkers Blues

It's Fall, a transitional time for the junker. As the salad days of yard sales, warm flea market mornings and spring cleanouts lead into the hoarding, barren days of winter, the junker can go through weeks at a time without a decent "score," which leads to withdrawal, the jitters, anxiety. Which is just my schmaltzy […]

Spork

There's much to be thankful for around here, 'tis true. Having lived in drier and more stoic towns, we're grateful that there's always somewhere fun to go and something fun to do. For example, the list of new places opening up and/or getting renovated keeps getting longer. Fred's Speakeasy recently reopened after a serious remodel, […]

How the election saved Asheville

Within basic political reality, I couldn't be happier with the local election results and feel that if predictions hold up, Asheville/Buncombe has real cause to celebrate, for once, the wisdom of our voters. I actually erred in my endorsements of Bothwell and Smith, when shortly after I wrote, Manheimer showed up to Blue Ridge Pride […]

Act now to oppose the proposed H-bomb factory in Oak Ridge

Overcoming rain and interstate blockages, two teenagers' testimony supplemented that of 10 from WNC at the Department of Energy's Nov. 17 hearing in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The 12 opposed our government's proposed new $3.5 billion H-bomb factory. Despite Obama's avowal to phase out nuclear weapons, our militarists endorse a sustained global arms race for another […]

Beware of basing your diet on ideology

Vegetarianism vs. factory meat-farming? We have lost our instincts about what is natural to eat. No other animal has philosophical discussions about the subject. Choosing a diet based on ideology can get you in big trouble if your ideology doesn't match your biology. What do humans eat naturally? Our teeth are like chimpanzees' — chimps […]

Stupak amendment attempts to "keep women in their place"

As a result of late-night, back-room negotiations, anti-choice forces took a "win" when the House health-care bill passed the Saturday before last. Outlawing coverage for a legal medical procedure, the Stupak amendment will hurt millions of women who will pay the price for this staggering restriction on their right to choose. The Stupak amendment doesn't […]