Editor’s note: This story contains graphic descriptions of grisly crimes. Mountain Xpress doesn’t generally report such stories, but we felt that the brutal nature of the crimes, the depth of community concern and the larger issues raised justified doing so in this case. Although much of the material quoted here is public record, we’ve also […]
Year: 2009
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Faith in focus
In a time when many religions are witnessing a drop-off in attendance at worship services, evangelicalism is booming: It’s the fastest-growing form of faith in the United States today. A substantial 26.3 percent of American adults define themselves as evangelicals, according to the 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Study conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion […]
Torture policy
Questions arise over URTV oath
A confidentiality clause in an oath administered to members of public-access channel URTV’s board at their last meeting has sparked criticism—and the county attorney’s office is looking into whether the vow is in line with the state’s open-meetings law. The oath reads: “I, the undersigned board member of URTV, do solemnly swear or affirm that […]
Asheville YouTube star caught in a Web crossfire
Will Chatham didn’t exactly get cut down by a light saber, but he definitely feels burned. Chatham does Web development and server administration for the federal government; in addition, he does jobs on the side for Asheville Technologies, a local Web-development company. But Chatham is also a seasoned musician, and two years ago, he was […]
P&Z weighs in on Downtown Master Plan
The draft downtown master plan continues to make appearances and gather input around Asheville on its way to a March appearance before City Council. On Jan. 22, Project Manager Sasha Vrtunski presented the draft to the Planning and Zoning Commission, one of two bodies whose responsibilities would increase if the plan were adopted as is. […]
Girl Scout takes cookie sales to the Web
Wild A. Freeborn, sporting pigtails and the trademark green vest, ends her sales pitch for Girl Scout cookies with a simple appeal: “Buy cookies! And they’re yummy!” Want cookies?: Asheville Girl Scout Wild Freeborn is on a mission to sell 12,000 boxes of cookies. Here, she appears in an online video promoting her campaign. The […]
Two new bookstores for Asheville
Even as some downtown business go out of business, at least two are opening their doors. And perhaps coincidentally, both are bookstores. One bookseller is picking up where a beloved local used-book retailer left off; another charts new territory in a central location with a supply of bubbly to ensure a celebratory mood: • Montford […]
Weekly Asheville Disclaimer Page: 01/28/09
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Opinions
The Green Scene
Here’s a roundup of recent local environmental news. Greenville, S.C., gasses up As a global-warming catalyst, methane packs a punch: The Environmental Protection Agency says the gas “is 21 times more powerful at warming the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, by weight.” Decomposing wastes produce methane, making landfills the biggest source of the gas in the […]
Welcome to A&E
Prodigies of cool: Teen sensations Skinny Legs and All. There have always been upstarts, like high school kid-turned-Rolling Stone-writer Cameron Crowe, and skatepunk-turned-bluesman Jonny Lang. Asheville’s answer to those prodigies of cool has to be Skinny Legs and All. The quintet, ages 12-17, started as a music club at Evergreen Community Charter School. But these […]
Larger than life
“Each project is like an expedition,” says Christo. “This is why it’s so exciting.” Really, every aspect of the shared life of husband and wife artist team Christo and Jeanne-Claude reads like an adventure, from their identical birthdates to their fated meeting (Christo was hired to paint a portrait of Jeanne-Claude’s mother). Artists Jeanne-Claude and […]
Better late than never
Talking to Patterson Hood, it’s easy to notice that the guitar-playing, rabble-rousing and whiskey-swilling frontman of the Drive-By Truckers isn’t quite the same person at home. Is that the sound of his daughter playing in the background? Truckers’ delight: WNCW listeners voted Brighter Than Creation’s Dark No. 4 on the station’s list of 2008’s Top […]
Asheville Lyric Opera celebrates 10 years of song
Like a first love, eight out of 10 people remember their first opera, says David Craig Starkey, director of Asheville Lyric Opera. Soprano Angela Brown performs as Verdi’s Aida. Photo by Marty Sohl / Metropolitan Opera. “It becomes personal to them,” he says. “You just never forget it. There’s something about somebody singing their love […]
Old Kentucky Homework
Six slightly scruffy boys listen as their instructor reads from Look Homeward, Angel. She stops and asks, “How is Wolfe using melodrama here?” Tentatively at first, the boys offer answers, then discuss how they use melodrama in their own writing. Janet Hurley reads to her writing students from Look Homeward, Angel. The middle-school aged group […]
Edgy Mama
I admit it. I have a cougar crush on Troy Bolton. Yes, on the romantic athlete-slash-theater geek character in the three High School Musical movies (a cougar, for those of you who don’t know, is a woman of a certain age who goes for much younger men. I’m not really a cougar, I just have […]
The Biz: WNC business briefs
Meet The Geeks Meet-Up Jan. 28: Meet the Geeks, the Asheville-based network of 500-plus IT professionals, will hold its first social event of the year Wednesday, Jan. 28. They’ll convene at Scully’s bar and eatery (13 W. Walnut St. in downtown Asheville) from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Membership in Meet the Geeks is free, and […]
Pan-fish secrets
With plenty of places in Western North Carolina to catch various pan-fish and bass species, you don’t need to stealth cruise over highway fences to have a good time. Jeff Curtis of Curtis Wright Outfitters pointed out that old farm ponds have long been considered the holy grail of pan-fish angling, because farmers have stocked […]
Outdoors: The Practical Fly
A couple of years ago, I spent about three months restoring the exteriors of the two log cabins at the President James K. Polk State Historic Site, just south of Charlotte. The site is in an urban area, and Little Sugar Creek, a nondescript stream about the size of the Swannanoa, runs adjacent the property. […]
The staff that eats together …
Order up: Chefs at Savoy fine-dining restaurant display the shift’s “family meal.” There are people who eat at Asheville’s finest restaurants every single night. These people are, of course, the workers who staff them: the servers, sommeliers, bussers, bartenders and hostesses who can’t duck out of a bustling dining room for a traditional lunch break. […]