Once again, the world is forced to sit and watch the neighborhood bully—Israel—take out its collective fear and hate on an almost unarmed population in the Gaza strip, which a Vatican official recently referred to as a concentration camp. I think another horrific image is more appropriate: the Warsaw Ghetto. Then, as now, a brutalized […]

Regarding the safety of downtown Asheville—I agree with those who assert that downtown has gotten less safe, both in actual crime events and in the vibe you get when walking downtown. To me, three keys to addressing this issue are: 1. The aggressive vagrants must go. I have compassion and empathy for those who want […]

This is in response to “A Failure of Civic Leadership” [Letters, Jan. 7]. The writer wants the mechanism for choosing a City Council member for a vacant seat to be “voter-centric,” with the seat going to the next-highest recipient of votes. He felt that it was inappropriate for City Council members to depart from recent […]

The Downtown Master Plan process has produced an amazing public response through 14 public meetings. Throughout the process, our chosen planning team has learned about the diverse aspects of our community’s vision for downtown’s future. The draft plan is now available for review and download at www.ashevillenc.gov/downtownmasterplan. There is a lot of conversation out in […]

As a Montford resident, I am deeply concerned about the community’s push to support I-26 Connector Alternative 4b. After looking at the NCDOT’s Web site, I am not at all happy about the current iteration of plan 4b, which appears to place two large flyovers and a series of layered bridges at the edge of […]

Our county—and the world, for that matter—shows a familiar pattern of choosing bulldozing and building at the expense of low-wealth communities. But in times like these, how can we work together? The other night at the county commissioners’ meeting, I don’t think I was specific enough. Question: Have you ever lived in a crack-infested community […]

It is practically common knowledge at this point in our Western society that the minority of the population owns the majority of the wealth. This, then, directly influences all the structures of power and control. Those who hold the wealth are therefore “response-able” for the community that they inhabit. We know as common sense that […]

I am sick and tired of these people who carp about traffic calming. Don’t they know how to drive? There is worse in Asheville than planned curbing. Example: Druid Drive off Patton Avenue, at the rear entrance to the Post Office. The road narrows two feet, marked by a telephone pole just waiting for the […]

The recent election has shown me that there is hope for a better America. For a nation that was founded largely through theft and outright genocide, and further darkened by the disgrace of slavery, to have elected a biracial candidate as president is a huge step in the right direction. But as inspiring as the […]

I have attended several local citizen groups that provided recommendations on health-care reform to the Obama Transition Team. Before we knew what reforms to recommend, we addressed a key question: Is access to affordable health care a human right for everyone, or is it a privilege available only to those who can afford it? If […]

Once again I find myself without the information I need to determine my alignment. I know that Israel is the only nation in the area with abortion rights, and when Israel turned over its settlements in Gaza, it was a major territorial loss for abortion rights—but I still don’t know about zoning. Do any readers […]