Another 48 hours

It's summer and you know what that means. Yes, the 48 Hour Film Project is back, meaning it's time for local filmmakers — and those who would be filmmakers — to put themselves to the test in the ultimate cinematic pressure cooker. This is the Project's fifth consecutive year in Asheville, and the basic notion […]

Most requested? Dictionari­es

A “thank you” for sending me the book Reason of Hope by Jane Goodall. I am enjoying reading it. But I am equally if not more so impressed and appreciate your book offering to me, a prisoner. Our universe would be a much better place if more people displayed acts of reaching out with kindness. […]

Spork

In the wake of the Asheville Area Arts Council cancelling its annual color ball (its signature fundraising event for the past eight years), another group has stepped in to give Asheville a different colored ball. Well, accurately, it would be called an absence of color ball. Regardless, it’s a rogue art party gala: The Asheville […]

Memo to the yard-salers of Asheville

Yard Sale season is in full swing. We are flush with bright days and good weather. Time to clean out your house and hopefully offset a utility bill or two during these hard times. We at the Junker’s Union, as always, are here to help.  Keep the signs simple: The junkers are driving by at […]

Honor the local vibe

I want to vent about the Beastie Boys concert at the Orange Peel. Tickets went on sale online and sold out fast. The server wasn't prepared for the traffic. I have yet to talk to an Ashevillean who was even able to open the page. The Web site claims people just need to be more […]

Put Council in chains?

I couldn't be more disgusted with Council members and their endless so-called concerns about allowing the continued chaining of dogs. I moved here from Atlanta for many reasons, one being the endless amount of suffering by neglected dogs on chains that I was forced to watch in my neighborhood. Some Council members have the gall […]

Outdoors: Mike Sule’s mission

A mere 0.4 percent of Americans get to work by bike, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The rate may be greater in Asheville, where there’s strong interest in sustainable urban development and a wealth of recreational-cycling opportunities. But try bicycling to the office, to school, to the movies, the grocery store or other in-town […]

People should be trainable

The June 3 Molton cartoon dismayed me because it helps to feed a skewed image of animal-rights activists as extremists who would yell at a person walking their dog on a leash and [accuse them of being] someone who tortured and killed dogs. Perhaps Molton would like to be chained up. So funny! The chain […]

Taking the community out of radio

I'm a longtime volunteer at WPVM and former host of the freeform music show "Tuesday Night with the Lark." WPVM as we know it no longer exists. Things have been in disarray for almost a whole year now as the volunteers have tried to hold the station together without a station manager. The former station […]

Nix the high-rise

Please — it is urgent that we repeal any permits allowing a high-rise building to block the beautiful St. Lawrence Basilica from the downtown view. I am very adamant about this. —  Deborah Papich Boeswillwald

Two views, one Basilica

Please allow me to translate the recent letter from Peggy Seeger of Boston, who ranted about the proposed new hotel across from the Civic Center ["Lovely, Lucky, Poor Asheville," Letters, June 3]. "People from all over the world come to visit Asheville." Translation: I support sprawl. Who needs density? Let the visitors from all over […]

A stranger in paradise

I moved to Asheville late in 2007, and I stand by my decision. I can’t say it turned out exactly the way I thought it would, but living here has taught me many lessons about myself and about society in general, which is really what I’d hoped for. Admittedly this hasn’t come about in quite […]

A show of faith

Ducklings quack and mutter, picking through the dirt for slugs and weed seeds. In a thicket of cerulean love-in-a-mist, bumblebees hum a slow bass line against the staccato cries of the chickadees flitting from branch to branch amid the apple trees. Then THWACK! An arrow hits a low bridge spanning a drainage ditch, momentarily silencing […]

Take five

Take five minutes to make a difference. Contact Congressman Heath Shuler at (828) 252-1651 or e-mail him via his Web site (shuler.house.gov) to urge him to support a government-run insurance plan. This does not mean people won't have a choice, but a public plan will be a safety net for those with pre-existing conditions or […]

Asheville addictions

Everyone in Asheville has a favorite reason for staying here, as well as a favorite addiction. Is it biking at Bent Creek? Sunday mornings at Jubilee? Protesting in Pack Square? Sunday brunch at Sunny Point? Dressing up in costume for a City Council meeting? Izzy's coffee? Crashing art-gallery openings? Whatever your chosen delight, I urge […]