The Asheville Board of Realtors spent $2.1 million recently buying a new building on Montford Avenue to house its offices. The transaction was straightforward, but it’s triggered a flood of questions from some members of the organization who say they had no idea the board had such deep reserves and that it shouldn’t be spending […]
Year: 2009
Showing 1954-1974 of 2958 results
URTV calls special meeting on removing board member
URTV will hold a special membership meeting April 29 to vote on the dismissal of board member Davyne Dial, who’s been outspoken in her criticism of the public-access channel’s management. According to a notice on the station’s Web site, the meeting will be held Wednesday, April 29, at 7 p.m. in Studio A, and all […]
Shuler nails down federal funds for hybrid buses
Amid the din of arriving and departing buses at downtown Asheville’s Coxe Avenue Transit Center, Rep. Heath Shuler announced April 9 that he’s secured $238,000 in federal funding to help pay for the city’s planned transition to hybrid buses. Shuler on board: Mayor Terry Bellamy (at podium) introduces Rep. Heath Shuler (at right), announcing that […]
HATCH Asheville begins: The latest on the April 15-18 festival
The first annual HATCH Asheville—a creative-arts-and-mentoring festival featuring more than 25 free events—runs Wednesday, April 15, through Saturday, April 18. The official guide, which appeared as a pullout section in last week’s Xpress, is also available at festival venues and at special distribution boxes in downtown Asheville. In addition, a full schedule, event details and […]
Eviction looms for West Asheville co-op
The cooperatively owned Haywood Road Market is part of a small group of businesses that was part of West Asheville’s resurgence several years ago. But the organic corner grocery has a history of financial struggles and now may have to leave its location in West Asheville’s Bledsoe Building. At the end of March, the market […]
Hippies, indie rock and moccasins
You’ve probably noticed how indie rock has grown a thick, burly beard. Coked-up art students who were ripping off new wave and post-punk at the turn of the century are nowadays smoking grass, scooting about in handcrafted Santee moccasins and basically reliving the early 1970s. A lot of these characters dress like total fruitcups, yet […]
Fever pitch
Asheville music fans are no strangers to the cross-pollination of genres. From CX-1’s “Bluegrastafari” (bluegrass meets roots reggae) to the “world music, poetry and soul sounds” (mountain standards meet urban jazz) of R.I.S.E (formerly Rising Appalachia), local musicians have fused any number of genre combinations. East-west fusion: The band’s sound blends California surf music with […]
It ends like this … Asheville’s hope and anchor give a final performance
It’s been nearly seven years since sarahbrown, Tasha Trasher and Todd Weakley relocated to Asheville (sarahbrown and Trasher from Portland, Ore., and Weakley from Boston) and began playing their first round of shows as Hope & Anchor. Since then the trio’s subdued sets filled with sweet melodies and heartfelt lyrics have become a staple of […]
The Green Scene
If you want to understand the importance of air quality, ask yourself how long you can hold your breath. That’s what environmental scientist Meng-Dawn Cheng of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory told a group of journalists gathered in Knoxville, Tenn., last month. A summer photo taken in the Shining Rock Wilderness near Asheville shows a […]
On the shoulders of giants
As Sir Isaac Newton said, “If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.” The giants in Blue Spiral’s mentor exhibition are Western North Carolina-based sculptors and artists Hoss Haley, Stoney Lamar, Leslie Walker Noell and Kathy Triplett. The gallery prepared mentor in […]
The Biz: WriteMind Institute: a refuge for working folk
There’s work done to collect a paycheck, and there’s work done to improve as a person. For writer/entrepreneur/Zen practitioner Jonathon Flaum, those two goals intersect, one serving as the setting for the other. Work as refuge: The WriteMind Institute for Corporate Contemplation offers leadership workshops and retreats for businesses. The Lexington Avenue location also includes […]
It all started with a leaky fountain
I am alarmed that Asheville is—as are a growing number of American towns—a victim of a Buncombe scheme. I read about these in USA Today. Well-rehearsed teams of operators, based out of Chicago, travel the nation—seeking and finding towns that have a leaky fountain in their town square. When one is located, soon that town […]
Let cable consumers choose channels
We in WNC are captive to a single cable-television provider: Charter. On its Web site, Charter lists only their high-priced bundle. Customers have to ask specifically for the low-priced basic cable contract, which is not described. Unfortunately, it doesn’t include the channels we’d most like to watch. According to the May issue of Consumer Reports, […]
Letter from the publisher: Xpress’ new look for 2009
Dear reader, You’ll note some changes in this week’s Mountain Xpress. Perhaps the most obvious is that the paper’s slightly shorter. But you’ll also find design changes throughout the issue that we’re excited about. A lot of energy and creativity has gone into them. The size change was mandated by our printer, which is rebuilding […]
Less is more
Americans have a way of worrying when things get smaller. The merest hint of something shrinking—be it the size of a burger or a ballplayer’s pecs—makes massivity-minded folks suspect something sinister is afoot. So there were a few raised eyebrows when Marco’s Pizzeria recently reopened, after a 17-day hiatus, with 45 fewer seats. To accommodate […]
The more things change …
I have deliberately taken a break from appearing in front of City Council to speak on issues pertaining to development and quality of life in Asheville and the county, and writing to the dwindling number of publications here to voice my concerns. I wanted to give the governing bodies a chance to make some adjustments, […]
Outdoors: Second chances
Last month, a 15-year-old named Alex celebrated his graduation from Camp Woodson in Swannanoa. I was there to hear him speak, along with a crowd of fellow graduates, employees, court counselors and staff from the Swannanoa Valley Youth Development Center, where the camp’s offices are. In a soft voice, Alex said, “I am a man […]
The Dirt: The long view
I harvested my first asparagus recently. Their purple tips and green stalks rose out of the winter soil when all else in my garden was brown. They looked nothing like the shriveled, grocery-store spears that stand with their cut ends resting in icy water. Mine were almost a half-inch in diameter and growing so fast […]
Small Bites
Dripolator: The Dripolator will leave its food menus behind when it heads north to its new location next month. “The theme is taking what we do really well, which is espresso, and putting more focus on it,” owner Jay Weatherly says. That means no more tempeh reubens, pesto-egg plates or any other kitchen-made fare, although […]
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