Buncombe gears up flu-prevention programs; Mission limits visitors

Area hospitals are limiting visitors to help prevent the spread of the flu virus. Mission Hospital in Asheville and Pardee Hospital in Hendersonville are limiting a patient's visitors to immediate family or designated caregivers. The hospitals are asking children and teens to stay away because of the high rate of the the H1N1, or swine […]

Parking deck rates raise ire among downtown workers

The new rates for parking in downtown decks have Asheville's nighttime workers steamed. The increases took effect on Sept. 8 and have been a hot topic of discussion among employees of downtown establishments, who aren't mincing their words. A dollar don’t cut it: New collection machines mean new rates for city parking decks, leaving downtown-Asheville […]

Keeping the Sabbath holy

In a feat of rare alchemy – one often repeated throughout the band's career – Black Sabbath turned four measures and a mere six notes into one of the most recognizable phrases in rock music: the main riff of "Iron Man," from 1971's Paranoid. Hard rock, soulful swagger: Friday night headliners Clutch follow the riff […]

In shape to show

Things have changed for The Kingsbury Manx.  In the past three years, the Chapel Hill foursome have all gotten married, signed to a local upstart label, dropped a rigorous touring schedule, and until recently, mostly disappeared from the public eye.  The one thing that hasn't changed, though, is the band's knack for writing dreamy, Kinks-inspired […]

Junker’s Blues

One of the many ideas in Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? that you won't find in its movie adaptation, Blade Runner, is the concept, the spiritual warning, the call-to-arms against the relentless, creeping presence of kipple in our lives. Illustration by Nathanael Roney. According to Dick, kipple is "useless objects" — […]

Spork

Who knows what the weather will be like by the time you're reading this, but right now there's a chill in the air. September is here and summer's on the wane. One way to know for sure? This Friday, Sept. 18, is the last Downtown After Five of the season, so you best get your […]

A plea for accountabi­lity

Congratulations to Mountain Xpress on its 15th anniversary. As an early volunteer for its predecessor, Green Line, I am grateful for Jeff Fobes' vision and leadership — and for the support that Julian Price provided when this alternative weekly was getting off the ground. Jeff's vision of "encouraging folks to get involved locally, where they […]