I take no chances with poison ivy. Its oil, urushiol, gives me little blisterlike welts that itch for weeks. But by early July, the three-leaved varmint was creeping up the chainlink fence in the dog lot, sneaking into the great swaths of English ivy that cover some corners of my yard, and even assaulting the […]
Year: 2009
Showing 1114-1134 of 2958 results
Unwise cut at UNCA
The Environmental Quality Institute at UNCA is being eliminated because it "does not directly relate to the university's core mission." [according to Chancellor Anne Ponder, quoted in a recent press release] UNCA's core mission is to "Serve as the Standard of Excellence in Public Liberal Arts Undergraduate Education." Does eliminating an on-campus undergraduate research facility […]
Keep veg-diet stats in context
Stewart David's commentary ["Greenwashed," July 1 Xpress] may have been factually correct, but the conclusions of the study he cited, "Food-Miles and the Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the United States," were much more nuanced and balanced than Mr. David's out-of-context quotes implied. Here is an example: David: "… eating a vegetarian diet […]
Why you should vote for Shad Marsh
Back when I was poor and lived in Asheville, I'd go to Shad Marsh's house for a few beers now and then. You know what would end up happening half the time? Hell, if he wouldn't end up making dinner for me and his lovely wife, Kristen, he'd let me stay over so as not […]
NC clothesline-defense bill protects environment and property rights
I strongly support NC HB1353, the clothesline-defense bill, as absolutely essential for both property rights and the environment — in the defense against authoritarian, elitist and polluting local governments. This bill is hung up in the N.C. Senate Commerce Committee. If passed, it will prevent city, town or county governments from banning clotheslines (and infringing […]
The gift of Xpress
I enjoy your paper each week, and when I am out of this area, I find I miss it. For some background on me, well, I am almost 50, an ex-military officer, fairly conservative, and have lived here on and off since I was a kid in 1973. I love it here in Candler — […]
The Gospel According to Jerry
By 1936, the Great Depression had savaged the nation and the world, and Asheville and Buncombe County were left in dire financial circumstances. Schoolteachers were being paid in scrip (IOUs from the county that some local merchants reluctantly accepted, at deep discounts, so that teachers could buy the bare necessities of life). Land was still […]
Small Bites
• French Broad Food Co-Op
• The Blackbird
• Stir Fry Café
• Slow Food Asheville
• A-B Tech Culinary Team
Weekly Asheville Disclaimer Page: 07/29/09
• URTV season 6
• Open letter to Tim Johnson
• Kid care with Arnold
• They said it
Downsizing Bele Chere
Bar Beat: Bele Chere drinking
It's Saturday afternoon at Bele Chere and standing motionless in front of the Vance Monument, sun pouring down on his head, a street preacher holds a sign that starkly declares "Fornicators & Drunkards shall not inherit the Kingdom of God." Feeding the frenzy: Asheville Ski Club volunteers dish out local brews at the Bele Chere […]
Festival dress(es)
Patton Ave. during Bele Chere. At Bele Chere’s Coxe Ave. stage. Carolina Gator Gumbo accordion player Jean Prewitt. Do they know they’re wearing the same dress?
Cranky Hanke’s Weekly Reeler July 29-Aug. 4: Whole Lotta Movies
It’s a heavy week of movie offerings. Not only do we have three—well, two-and-a-half—mainstream releases and two not-so-mainstream ones, but there are four non-theatrical screenings in the offing. If nothing else, that gives viewers a pretty wide array of choices.
Golden moment
Buncombe GOP Chair Tim Johnson will resign, move to Durham
Buncombe County Republican Party Chair Tim Johnson, who was recently elected Vice Chair of the state party, will step down from his local leadership post on July 31, according to an announcement yesterday. County Vice Chair Robert Malt will take over as chair.
The classroom and the Appalachian elktoe
Attention, science educators: he U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is offering a series of water quality workshops for educators, Aug. 31 through Sept. 3 on Western North Carolina rivers where the endangered Appalachian elktoe mussel makes its home.
Edgy Mama: ‘Mom, can you…?’
Regardless of what my kids need or want, whether or not they can get it themselves, or whether or not they easily can ask another adult for help, they always, always, always ask me first. And nine times out of 10, the first three words out of their puerile mouths are, “Mom, can you…?”
Facing state cuts, WNCW launches fund drive
Proposed state budget cuts will likely leave WNCW with about $200,000 less — and facing staff cuts — in the coming year. The popular area radio station is launching a major fund drive next weekend to try and make up some of the loss.
Scenes from a Bele Chere Saturday
Vendors, buskers, street preachers and festivalgoers rubbed shoulders, exchanged cash, chowed down and drank copious amounts of beer during Asheville’s busiest time of the year. A few scenes from a long, hot Saturday (with just a little rain).
Video-a-Go-Go: The local video roundup
Tons of videos have surfaced from last week’s Laugh Your Asheville Off comedy festival — and that’s not all
Cranky Hanke’s Screening Room: About those kiddie movies
The whole concept of a list of kid-appropriate movies reminds me of when Frank Zappa testified at the Parents Music Resource Center hearings (remember those?). Much of his point came down to the idea that what was inappropriate for one child was not necessarily inappropriate for another, and that as a parent he objected to someone else telling him what his children were mature enough to process.