What Redistricting Means for You

There are a number of cases in The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities: Exhibits, Oddities, Images & Stories from Top Authors & Artists (Harper Votager, 2011) in which the…

In Rosanne Cash’s memoir, Composed, she writes, “Someone once told me to perform to the six percent of the audience who are poets.” I happen to be a poet. Though…

T-Model Ford swears he’s gonna live to be 110. God told him so in a dream. Of course, when he’ll hit that age no one knows for sure, because no…

During the medieval and renaissance eras in France, actors were employed by royalty to dress as mythological characters and pose during parties while ladies and lords of luxury cavorted around…

Classicopia calls itself “Asheville’s newest chamber music organization,” which is an apt description of the group’s originality, as much as a measure of how long it’s been in town. Pianist…

Before you get ahead of yourself, this is not the Bingo that involves daubers, cards and senior citizens (well, possibly the latter). Instead, The New Orleans Bingo! Show — born…

Local singer/songwriter Pierce Edens is best known for his hoarse, gravelly, smoke-booze-and-late-nights voice; that raw growl that makes every song an anthem. But Edens, along with fronting The Dirty Work,…

According to the band's website, Badman "can be best described in three words, 'rock, reggae and dance.'" The group got its start in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; they boast hard-driving…

Billed as "an auspicious evening of masterful, innovative world jazz collaborations," Duncan Wickel's Saturday, July 23 show at the White Horse Black Mountain promises to be a heady evening. Asheville-born/Boston-based…

You can find plenty of alt-country around Asheville. You can find some country rock and the occasional mainstream country show at the Civic Center. But good, solid, old-school country in…

A-B Tech's Institute for Climate Education invites the community to "An Insider's Look: What You Need to Know About Climate," with Mark Brooks of the State Climate Office of North…

These weekend, visitors came out for not one, but two whole festivals dedicated to the art of growing hops. Thousands of lime green cones stretched along steel cables at Echoview…

The menu at your favorite local sushi restaurant might as well offer the "endangered species roll." Not the best marketing, but here’s the truth: Certain fish species commonly found on…

New food truck alert There's a new mobile sandwich unit in town. Nate Kelly has opened the Lowdown food truck with wife, Cynthia. Nate was the chef at the Usual…

Some of the locally crafted beer you drink over the next few months may contain locally grown hops. With the support of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension, more and more…

Every once in awhile, the perfect volunteer for a particular job shows up just when you need her. Such was the case with Corinne Duncan. RiverLink relies on a host…

Redistricting cuts to the heart of our democracy. To ensure that everyone’s vote counts the same, the boundaries for congressional as well as state House and Senate districts must be…

Republicans have fired the first round in the latest edition of the political turf war that predictably erupts every 10 years in the wake of the U.S. census. And the…

The proposed new districts for Statehouse and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners could further polarize both the legislative delegation and local voters. Released the evening of July 12, the…

For more than a century, the dairy barn at Eliada Homes, the foster care nonprofit in Asheville, has stood as a landmark on the campus. Now, after a renovation into…

With threats of lawsuits already flying as redistricting gets under way, North Carolina’s history provides a mirror for illuminating the shape of the debate to come. To achieve equal representation,…

Nine candidates — including two incumbents — will vie for three Asheville City Council seats. As of the July 15 filing deadline, the candidates are: Council members Jan Davis and…

Recently, the two of us sat on Lexington Avenue reading Mountain Xpress aloud to each other. It’s something we do while we take in the goings-on in our neighborhood. We…

First and foremost, I'd like to thank Xpress for printing the July 6 article on immigration and education [“Stymied”]. I found it to be informative. I'd also like to ask…

I wish that I could have felt sorry for most of the protagonists in the July 6 Xpress article “Stymied.” I’m afraid I couldn’t. As an immigrant myself, who has…

I used to be a bleeding-heart liberal, but it's issues like illegal immigration that have helped me to get over that. My grandparents and my mother were immigrants, but they…

The proposed legislative redistricting plan for the state of North Carolina would split Buncombe County into two parts: the eastern segment (including the city of Asheville) would join the 10th…

Under the Republican majority in the N.C. House and Senate, we have gone from an F-rated, ineffective state Legislature to a B-rated, well-run Legislature. As a lifelong conservative Republican who…

Reports of the Downtown Market closing have been greatly exaggerated. A plucky group of 25 artists, craftspeople and antique dealers have banded together to keep the central core of the…

It’s time we regulated motorized scooters. I mean really make them a non-gray area transportation means. I want to see them regulated in a way that their role on the…

There must be “aliens” among us. I see them daily in the Asheville area, running red lights and never using turn signals. I have experienced several near misses by these…

Folks driving down Hillside Street seem utterly confused about who has the right of way when parked cars make it impossible for both cars to pass. Many neighborhood roads in…

I saw a giant group of Christians swinging big Jesus flags and singing Jesus songs in front of the courthouse and city hall in Pack Square Park [recently]. This is…

Today I had the pleasure of volunteering at a wonderful community service and fundraising event put on by The Rotary Club of Madison County. The event was the Hot Doggett…

•Mexican drug cartel significantly weakened, according to schwagginess of local man’s bag • Plan to raise tax revenues dropped after politicians witness public’s reaction to Netflix price-hike • Texas, distracted,…