Lovely, lucky, poor Asheville

Lovely Asheville: You are a beautiful jewel in a mountain setting. People from all over the world come to visit you. You are a livable town, a small town with city facilities and friendly people. Lucky Asheville: You have survived waves of developers who have cut down your trees and systematically demolished your historic buildings […]

The Basilica can take it

Good grief. There is barely a plan before the city for the land acquired near the Basilica, and already the voices of doom are howling. If the Basilica was so keen for a park, then why, with the education building torn down, was an ugly surface lot put there instead of a green space? Oh […]

Preserve Basilica’s beauty

Dear mayor, members of Asheville City Council and fellow citizens of Asheville: Our beautiful city of Asheville made a huge step forward with the restoration of the Grove Arcade. The way it was done, with eye appeal and functionality, and keeping the overall dimensions of the building appropriate to the area, is to be applauded. […]

North Carolina’s forgotten residents

Most citizens, even concerned ones, don’t understand where people with mental-health challenges go—as in live, manage their lives, hang out. Why, of course, they live with their families, right? Nope: Many don’t. Neither do they vaporize when the sun goes down. In North Carolina, most adults with severe and persistent mental illness are not homeless […]

When mountain dialects die

When was the last time you heard such expressions as “Oh, Law,” or “You-uns have a nice day”? And if you’re lucky enough to encounter one of these turns of phrase, once common here in the Western North Carolina mountains, then listen carefully: Their days may be numbered. Linguists estimate that within less than 80 […]

Phish phans rejoice

The muddy fields of Coventry, Vt. were supposed to be the final resting place for Phish, the wildly popular jam-band known for its quirky compositions and transcendent improvisations. After spending more than 20 years on the road building one of the most devoted grassroots followings in rock history, the band collapsed under the pressure of […]

Paws With A Purpose

Pet-therapy dog Maggie with pediatric patient. Photo by Jim Lawrence Paws With A Purpose pet-therapy teams are hard at work throughout Asheville providing a furry dose of unconditional love to the elderly, infirm and to ill or abused children. Since 1999, Paws With A Purpose has grown to 86 therapy-dog teams, each dog certified for […]

Weekly Reeler: Generally coherent movie-news ramblings for June 3-9

The old Regal Hollywood Cinema 14 will have its grand re-opening this Friday, June 5, as the Carolina Asheville Cinema 14. Changes abound. There’s a new lobby with a kind of screening-room mezzanine where the video games used to be. There are new seats, equipment upgrades—including one digital theater that will allow the Carolina to run digital 3-D.