Earl “Happy” Gray always leads the opening prayer at the Saturday morning Least of These breakfast. By that time, the food line often extends up the parking lot of Summit Church, near the corner of South French Broad and Patton avenues. The folks in line come from the WNC Rescue Mission and the Bartlett Arms […]
Buncombe County’s Board of Commissioners faced a full agenda on Aug. 5, and by meeting’s end, they had passed several motions that will change the landscape in some significant ways. (photo by Alicia Funderburk)
“It is the responsibility of the Legislature to fund teacher pay,” District 2 incumbent Democrat Ellen Frost declared at the July 30 Council of Independent Business Owners candidate forum. But though most school funding comes from the state, the county does provide a supplement each year, usually about 20 percent of total school funding. In […]
A month after contentiously approving the 2015 budget, the Buncombe Board of Commissioners’ Tuesday, Aug. 5, meeting is shaping up to resemble nothing if not a game of Monopoly. Most of the new business before the board concerns various ins-and-outs of real estate. First, commissioners will be considering three rezoning requests. Two of these are […]
“Learning from the past generation’s successes and then confronting their own challenges today,” is the mission of Me2We, a forum for minority youth to learn about their community’s past as well as recognize their own ability to understand the future.
In an age of instant communication and social media, Asheville Police are still stuck in the 20th century. “The Asheville Police Department does a lot of good,” said Police Chief William Anderson. “What we’re not good at is getting that information out to the public.” Anderson was speaking to the 20 attendees of the department’s first meeting […]
Buncombe County is taking new steps to alleviate poverty, and it’s looking to the community for ideas. Representatives of 22 organizations attended a July 15 Buncombe County Health and Human Services (BCHHS) meeting, where they learned of Buncombe’s new Request for Information (RFI) on poverty remediation. County leaders are interested in community practices to remedy poverty and are seeking information […]
On a contentious 5-2 vote July 8, Buncombe County’s Board of Commissioners held the property tax rate steady in the new fiscal-year budget but juggled numbers to pump more money into the school system. Commissioners also got their first look at an early-retirement plan that could save $1 million but result in the county losing many […]
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will convene tonight, July 8, with the primary order of business being the final adoption of the Fiscal Year 2015 budget put on hold at the previous meeting on June 17. The budget estimates $280.3 million in expenditures for the county and holds the tax rate steady at current levels.
Skateboarding’s stereotypical image hovers somewhere between Fast Times at Ridgemont High and the Sex Pistols. And while that would seem to make it a natural fit for the fringe-blender that is Asheville, there are challenges — including hefty fines. But beneath its surface madness, skateboarding girds itself with a subtle but very real prosody.
On the night of April 12 and into the early morning hours of April 13, a spate of burglaries hit Joyner Avenue, a small side street off Riverview Drive in West Asheville. The crimes highlight the underlying issues and trends.
Never underestimate what a few talented women can do. Mars Hill University’s Rural Life Museum’s exhibit and guided tour, “Interwoven: Coverlets, Ballads and America’s Discovery of Madison County Folklife,” explores cottage industries and the history of female independence.
Members of the WNC Diversity Engagement Coalition’s are discussing ways to create and foster a more diverse community and workforce. It started with an April 25, 2013, conference titled “Realizing the Benefits of a Diverse and Inclusive Workforce.” (photo by Cindy Kunst)
Powerlifter Jennifer Payne pushes her limits in life and sport. Photos by Josh Vaughn
Editor’s note: In a series of articles, Cameron Huntley is exploring a particular niche in the area’s economy: comic book and gaming stores. In this installment, he chronicles the passing of the torch at one local comics shop. “See you next week,” Will Hessling tells a customer as he gathers his pile of comics, straightens […]
Editor’s note: This summer, Cameron Huntley explored a niche in the Asheville-area economy — comic-book and gaming stores. In this installment, he takes a close look at one store’s weekly tournament. Jacob Wishon shuffles a five-card hand. The plastic sleeves gleam in the fluorescent light as Carla Schlueter winces across the game table: "Oh God,” […]
Rich Simpson, owner of Game Xcape, still remembers his first system: an original Atari. He and his brothers played Pong on it religiously. Little did they know that they were architects of the machine’s demise. "We went outside and left the game on, and when my father came home the image had burned onto the […]
The skeleton shambles forward, red eyes burning like rubies in the dungeon's twilight contours. It must be defeated before the hunt for the jade katana can continue. The dwarf has failed to decapitate the fleshless specter. Now it's up to the gunslinger. Gamemaster James Becker quickly scans his laptop. "Roll to hit.” The player tosses […]
Walking into Comic Envy is like entering an Alex Ross book with all the colors from thousands of saddle-stitched, glossy booklets: Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Manga. And there are just as many from less mainstream publishers: Top Shelf, Fantagraphics. For every Spiderman or Spongebob Squarepants there is a 10-foot-tall homunculus in a flat cap and […]
