Year: 2009
Showing 904-924 of 2958 results
Asheville City Council brief: Aug. 25 meeting
Just in time for the upcoming municipal elections, Council approves four new early-voting sites.
Green Xpress: Enviro news that matters to WNC
Here’s a round-up of environmental news that affects Western North Carolina, from local issues to national news we’ve been tracking.
This weekend on a shoestring
Goombay kicks off, Greenlife celebrates five years in Asheville with food, drink and music, local bands commandeer Pritchard Park, poets recite, rockers reunite and DJs spin while shoppers scores some great sale prices. And it’s all super budget friendly.
Working overtime
Asheville city employees raked in $1.8 million in overtime pay last year, with some earning more than 50 percent of their base pay. One Asheville Police Department sergeant made $34,191 by working extra hours. On the clock: The city spent $1.8 million in taxpayers' money on overtime for the 2008-09 fiscal year, according to city […]
One more step
The last time the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners took one of the many steps required to reinstate zoning throughout the county, they faced a roomful of zoning opponents, many demanding a referendum. The shape of things to come (maybe): The proposed zoning map for Buncombe County, which the Buncombe Commissioners have sent to the […]
Outdoors
Although I'm questioned regularly on the best events and trails in Western North Carolina, nobody ever asks which locals are worth meeting. Maybe they assume I'm a fan of the trail racers who routinely snap finish lines or those climbers who do their Spiderman thing on challenging rocks. Truth told, I'm most intrigued by the […]
Director seeks new home for water-testing center cut by UNCA
Dr. Steve Patch is not ready to call it quits on the Environmental Quality Institute. The director of the water-testing center, which was recently cut from UNC-Asheville, says he is working with other universities to try to get one of them to pick up the EQI. Meanwhile, UNCA Provost Jane Fernandes says the controversial decision […]
Campaign Calendar
Thursday, Sept. 3: WNC Citizens for Change forum for Asheville City Council candidates, 6:30 p.m. at Hill Street Baptist Church (135 Hill St.). Friday, Sept. 11: Deadline for registering to vote in the Asheville City Council primary. Saturday, Sept. 12: Get Out the Vote and Meet the Candidate event for Asheville City Council candidate Esther […]
Cape announces write-in reelection bid
Less than three months after saying she would not run for reelection, incumbent Robin Cape announced that she will make a bid as a write-in candidate for Asheville City Council. Cape, who won her seat in 2005, says that she has taken care of the personal and family issues that initially made her pull out […]
Buncombe prepares for "many, many people to get infected" with flu
Buncombe County public-health officials are readying to deal with the possibility that up to 30 or 40 percent of the population will be infected with either seasonal flu or the H1N1 virus at any one time in coming months. "We are preparing for many, many people to be infected," Health Director Gibbie Harris told reporters […]
Asheville’s ‘intellectual capital’ takes center stage at TEDx Asheville event
Call it a circus for your brain. Call it an idea explosion with a rock-and-roll vibe. Call it a variety show for nerds, by nerds. No matter how organizer Jennifer Saylor describes it, the TEDx Asheville event set for Aug. 30 at the Orange Peel will do one thing — spotlight the ideas and talents […]
Asheville man charged in domestic violence murder
An Asheville woman was stabbed to death Aug. 16 outside a Montford home. Police say the killing stemmed from a domestic dispute and have charged Rodney Lamar Robinson with first-degree murder. According to a statement from the Asheville Police Department, officers responded to a call at 72 Woodlawn Ave. that afternoon reporting that "a male […]
Firefighter accused in cyclist shooting no longer employed by city
Firefighter Charles Alexander Diez, facing felony assault charges for allegedly shooting at cyclist Alan Simons's head last month, is no longer employed by the city of Asheville. City staff would not reveal whether Diez was fired or chose to leave. Diez's employment with the Asheville Fire Department ended on Aug. 10, according to Lisa Roth, […]
The Green Scene
Once upon a time, Asheville had a premier electric-trolley system. Between 1889 and 1934, several private companies operated lines that ran about 40 cars and totaled 18 miles of track. The service linked the main train depot, downtown and surrounding areas. Imagine this: A composite rendering suggests what a modern tram coming up Biltmore Avenue […]
Light and shadow: The mystery and legacy of George Masa
He lay against white sheets, a slight figure wasted by disease. Friends came to see him, sat beside him, reached out to touch his arm. They asked whether he was comfortable. Could they get him anything? But he was out of reach now. He had traveled beyond words. To take some of the earliest photos […]
"Everyone is invited to the reggae party"
Goombay fans have taken in a lot of eclectic world-beat sounds over the years, from African drums to Caribbean grooves. But here's something even the most astute world music fan might not know: The cowbell — that clunky but effective rhythm instrument — doesn't jive with the digital age. "You can take a cowbell and […]
On a wing and a Drunken Prayer
The band name Drunken Prayer doesn't actually stem from the time singer/songwriter Morgan Geer and keyboardist Audra Fleming spent holed up in a cabin in California's wine country. It's also not about dogma, though Geer used to front Asheville-based blues-rock outfit The Unholy Trio. "Religious themes work as iconic imagery on an everyday level, without […]
Artillery
If it's true that Asheville is the Paris of the South, then Marshall is more akin to a small town in the South of France, with its picturesque landscape, close-knit community,and laid-back quality of living. Over the past few years, the small historic river town of barely 900 occupants has quietly grown into a thriving […]
Farmers come to town
In the ongoing contest to get closer to the source of one's food, Asheville restaurateur Laurey Masterton may have achieved a new level of kitchen intimacy. Photo by Jonathan Welch Eaters who merely dabble in locavorism are generally content to know where their tomatoes grew. Slightly geekier grocery-goers might seek out information about who did […]
The Dirt: Almost secret gardens
"Edible" gardens in Asheville are everywhere. Two that recently caught our attention at Xpress are located right under our noses (or just outside our car windows): a Lexington Avenue garden within spitting distance of Interstate 240, and a neighborhood garden almost hidden below the Broadway/Chestnut Street bridge. The owner of Rosetta's Kitchen got the Lexington […]