Asheville fans of a California-based conference that shines a spotlight on fascinating ideas and inspiring thinkers have begun planning a similar one-day event here. TED (technology, entertainment, design), a California-based nonprofit, has sponsored a conference highlighting interesting speakers since 1984. The idea is simple: Spread great ideas and change the world. And the original focus […]
Year: 2009
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Parkside appeal heard in Raleigh
On May 19, attorneys representing Black Dog Realty and the heirs of George Pack made their respective cases before the N.C. Court of Appeals in Raleigh, reprising their arguments concerning a disputed piece of land that’s at the heart of the high-profile Parkside controversy. Last August, Buncombe County Superior Court Judge Marlene Hyatt ruled in […]
A Firestorm of cooperation
The past year has been inhospitable to most new small businesses; even many of those that got off to a strong start before the recession kicked in have now found themselves ailing. One local business that’s bucked the trend is Firestorm Café & Books, and to hear the owners tell it, that success is due […]
Building opposition
The irregular patch of pavement at the corner of Haywood Street and Page Avenue in downtown Asheville is heating up again, and it’s not just the warmer weather. The city-owned parcel, adjacent to the Civic Center and the Basilica of St. Lawrence, was once earmarked for a parking deck that proved highly controversial and was […]
Junker’s blues
Watching the gas prices creep up past $2.30 is giving me flashbacks to those awful months in 2008 when gas was nearly five dollars a gallon. Those times were hard on everyone, including the junker. This is a nickel-and-dime game, and for a while, I was really wondering how I was going to continue to […]
The soul of Motown, the grit of ‘60s rock’n’roll and a modern pop sensibility
Seth Kauffman better watch out the next time he plays in New York: If Wes Anderson sees him, he just might lock him up in his basement and force Kauffman to write the soundtracks to his movies for the rest of eternity. Laid-back vibe: Kauffman (second from left) with the rest of the Floating Actin […]
The Green Scene
The Chucky madtom is so rare, a mere 15 of the little catfish have been found in the last 70 years. And an attempt to breed two Chuckies caught in 2004 yielded no results, says U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service biologist Mark Cantrell. Photo courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service “It looked like they were […]
Life after Springsteen
The Enemy Lovers (the indie-rock vehicle of brothers Tim and Steven Scroggs) is a rare act that can claim to have had financial backing, a producer, a manager and a lawyer in place before picking out a band name. But, as much as the Scroggses — with their made-for-Paste-magazine haircuts and radio-ready pop hooks — […]
Spork
A lot of folks know Josh Phillips’ raspy-rich voice and the soulful optimism of his band, Josh Phillips Folk Festival. But didya know he’s also a champion ping-pong player? Phillips won a regional ping-pong tourney last month, part of the Bud Lite Hard Bat Ping Pong Tournament. He played two nights and beat 10 people […]
The Practical Fly
It may take awhile, but neophytes eventually figure out where to go fishing locally. Over time, fisherfolk generally find each other and exchange information, but establishing such a network doesn’t happen overnight, and it does take some work. You spot a Trout Unlimited bumper sticker on somebody’s truck and strike up a conversation in a […]
Travel tips for fishermen
One of the great things about vacationing with a fly rod is that mountain folks like us have the opportunity to fish salt water, but there are extra precautions for maintaining your gear. Salt water will wreak havoc on your fly reel, so I clean my gear every time it’s exposed to the stuff. Here’s […]
Justice served
Famed hoop dancer Eddie Swimmer last year became the first Cherokee director of “Unto These Hills,” the Qualla Boundary’s outdoor drama—still popular at age 60. And over at Tribal Grounds Coffee, another Eastern Band tribal member, Natalie Smith, is likewise blending integrity with theatrics. Well grounded: Tribal Grounds’ new location, which is slated to open […]
The Dirt: The natives among us
When someone asks where I’m from and I say, “Born and bred here,” the usual response is, “Oh, I rarely meet natives.” Perhaps you should visit Cherokee, I often want to quip. Those folks are certainly more native than I, even if my family roots do go back several generations in Western North Carolina. Wild […]
Community approach to gang prevention
The "Gangland" cover story ["Putting in Work, May 6] unfortunately almost completely overlooked Asheville's actual response to the threat of gang violence. Juxtaposing the outlook of only one youth-service provider (and Asheville GO is a great one) with the law-enforcement response has the potential to completely skew the public's perception, if the inference is that […]
Commit to caring about teens
In your title article for the "Gangland" issue ["Putting in Work," May 6], DeWayne Barton made an astute comment about how we can engage young teens in the life of our community. He said, "Find the things the kids want to do." For over a year, the Asheville City Schools Foundation has led a community-wide […]
Appalachia: a big subject
Regarding the recent hubbub around the stereotyping of mountain people – specifically the Molton cartoon ["Pigdemic," May 6] and the eloquent commentary by Ms. Wallace ["Fighting Back," May 6] on Bill O'Reilly's typically ignorant statements about Appalachian folk: I am a mountain person, born and raised, and I agree with O'Reilly's comment that Appalachian children […]
Small Bites
Caffiend Gets A Makeover: Caffiend, the coffee shop at 120A Merrimon Ave. that never closes (we mean never—owner Matt Hebb tells Xpress that the 24/7 joint doesn’t even close on Christmas) just turned a corner, celebrating two full years in business. To mark the occasion, Hebb and his staff have given Caffiend a significant makeover […]
Which comes first, the chicken or the city?
Students of North Carolina history may know we have an official state motto. First adopted in 1893, "Esse quam videri – To be, rather than to seem," offers a stark contrast between the North Carolina formed in 1775 and the 2009 version. A search for the difference might easily land on Asheville's $1 billion water […]
How many races can you run?
Todd Hoke, in his letter in the May 20 issue ["Put Some Spring in Your Step"], lamented that there were so few runners in the Green Cove 10-mile race on April 25. He wondered where were all the runners. The answer is simple. There were seven races in the area on that date. There were […]
Life-giving land
Once upon a time, in this very land, our “yards” were forest. The plot of ground now known to many of us as “the lawn” once provided food, water and shelter for numerous creatures great and small. And since these spaces were contiguous with other forested areas, animals could move through them without confronting pavement, […]
Making a joyful noise
I am moved to comment on a (local?) musician in a classy Panama hat, whom I've been enjoying lately performing on the streets of downtown Asheville. As he sings and plays the ukulele and kazoo, I've noticed – to the delight of children, teens and adults – that his heartfelt music makes people want to […]