To a first-time gardener, weeds don’t seem to be much of an issue at this time of year. They’re so puny, and the plants you’ve set out are so robust. What kind of threat do these interlopers pose? But native weeds are generally better suited to the local climate than most of the exotic annuals […]
Author: Cecil Bothwell
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Insects in amber
With radio stations in major markets turning away from current pop (due to audience shrinkage) and oldies stations dominating the non-country, non-talk broadcast spectrum, the time seems ripe for an unapologetically retro band: Enter the Cheeksters. Except that a retro genre is nothing new for Mark and Shannon Hines Casson, who’ve been playing British-invasion pop […]
A real slugfest
I have to confess that up until this season, my slug awareness had dipped to a very low ebb. The last time I’d had to face down an onslaught of the slimy mollusks must have been in 1976, when I gardened a rich pond-side tract in southern New Hampshire. Since then, my gardening has been […]
Buncombe County Commission
In the ongoing standoff between Asheville and Buncombe County over the future of the local water system, both sides have expressed a willingness to compromise — but it isn’t clear that they’ve gotten significantly closer to reaching an agreement. At a special May 24 meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners and county staffers laid […]
The smile of your shadow
People have a problem with bugs and bats, but it may not be what you’re thinking (“Eew, creepy!”). We have the same problem with butterflies (“Ah, lovely!”) and moths (“Wow, a luna!”). Pollinator populations are plummeting on every continent except Antarctica — and no pollinators means no food for us. Well, perhaps that’s a bit […]
Buncombe County Commission
The most significant agenda item at the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners’ May 17 formal session was County Manager Wanda Greene‘s presentation of the budget for fiscal year 2005-06 (which begins July 1). The proposed budget, which calls for a 4.1 percent increase in spending compared to this year, takes into account changes associated with […]
High pressure zone
photo by Jodi Ford Outgrown and overloaded: The Buncombe County Detention Center, completed in 1996, regularly confines 400 prisoners in a facility designed to hold 356 inmates. When Carlos Payne was released from the Buncombe County Detention Center in August 2001, he was immediately charged with violating probation. (Under the terms of a plea bargain, […]
Buncombe County Commission
Money for flood recovery and housing rehabilitation were the principal issues on the table during Buncombe County Board of Commissioners abbreviated May 3 meeting. During a public hearing concerning a community development block grant for disaster recovery, Planner Cynthia Barcklow explained that the county is eligible to apply for $600,000 in state funds to assist […]
Buncombe County Commission
Only two county residents were on hand for a public hearing during the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners’ April 19 formal session. The hearing concerned a proposed $8 million cash advance for the city and county schools, part of a $51 million funding package (for the Asheville and Buncombe County school systems plus A-B Tech) […]
Buncombe County Commission
After a late start (apparently due to an extended consultation involving the Buncombe County commissioners, the county manager and the county attorney), the public-comment period preceding the Board of Commissioners’ April 5 meeting took some unaccustomed turns. Regulars Fred English, Harry Maroni, Don Yelton, Eric Gorny and Jerry Rice each put in an appearance, taking […]
Out of Lebanon
However the details might vary, it seems not much changes in the broad-brush picture of the Middle East. The misfortune and fortune of the Semitic people is to live atop large puddles of oil that the rest of the world wants to control. If it weren’t designated the Holy Land for three major religions, it […]
Duplicity in the city
Opera buffs never seem to get enough of that sweet stuff the little laddie Mozart left behind, and “Figaro” is arguably the most recognizable name in opera — whether you first heard it from Bugs Bunny, Luciano Pavarotti on the Tonight Show or, legitimately, in one of myriad productions by companies large and small around […]
Buncombe County Commission
Residents of the Jupiter community jammed the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners’ meeting room on March 15 asking the board to give them the former Red Oak School for use as a community center. During the public-comment period preceding the formal session, a string of citizens urged the commmissioners to transfer the property to a […]
The word made fresh
Dancing between the lines: Evidence members translate written work into motion. On a smaller scale, choreographer Ron K. Brown’s workshop students are expected to do the same thing. Reviews from across the country suggest that Ronald K. Brown’s dance works are typically exuberant and dramatic. And yet, atypically, the choreographer lifts these vigorous moves from […]
(Mostly) free resources
There may not be such a thing as a free lunch — as Dylan observed, “It may be the devil, it may be the Lord, you’ve got to serve somebody” — but, where music is concerned, there are free resources, and the public library is a good place to start. No matter what your preferred […]
Hidden in plain sight
“Ask a librarian for assistance.” To regular patrons of the Asheville-Buncombe Library System, this faintly ominous warning may be all too familiar: It’s the message you get when you’re searching the computerized catalog and the item you select is missing in action. In the past six months, this reporter has encountered such a prompt about […]
After you light the fuse …
Storytelling goes way back in these mountains, as an oral tradition common to both the indigenous population and the sometimes equally non-literate Europeans who evicted them. The Europeans, of course, brought along the notion of front porches and rocking chairs, which contributed immeasurably to the ambiance of the storytelling milieu. Songwriter and tale-spinner Michael Reno […]
The buck stops where?
Like many other WNC residents, Carl Mott and Roberta Jordan dreamed of starting a small, home-based business that would enable them to live and work in the same beautiful place. After scoping it out, the would-be entrepreneurs settled on the idea of building a Japanese-style “rotenburo” (open-air bath) spa featuring outdoor hot tubs, a cold […]
Buncombe County Commission
Readers keen on keeping up with the latest buzzwords will want to add “hotspot” to their vocabulary. Dog owners, of course, will recognize the term as a reference to the itchy patches associated with flea infestations or mange; and for others, it may evoke images of convenience stores with gaudy orange signs. But to boosters […]
Folkcatcher: a lyrical legacy
In the 1920s, a genteel New England woman found her way to front porches and barns way up in Appalachian hollers. She wheedled and befriended and pestered the local folk until they shared their old-timey music, which she commenced to notate. Her purpose was the preservation of ballads that had changed little in the four […]
Sky’s the limit
Interest in naturally grown, additive-free food seems to be at an all-time high (see “Natural Selection,” Feb. 2 Xpress). For a lot of folks, that translates into homegrown. And for an increasing number of farmers, it means shifting gears. Those two often-overlapping groups are the target audience for the annual Organic Growers School; this year’s […]