Parents of students in Asheville City Schools pushed back against what they saw as a tepid response from district leaders after the Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Fla., saying local administrators were slow to acknowledge families’ fears and provide concrete information. At a March 6 parent forum, some additional details about the district’s safety planning were made available.
A new local festival will come to Salvage Station on Saturday, March 31. Organizers of the Asheville Arts and Science Festival hope to raise awareness about what science looks like in the real world. And by incorporating a healthy dose of art, the family-friendly event also aims to hook visitors with the beauty that science can inspire.
![WORK IT OUT: As part of the extensive {Re}HAPPENING lineup, local dancer and choreographer Kathy Leiner, pictured, presents “Firewall.” The multimedia performance is “created collaboratively by dancers and the audience [and] uses choice and chance to explore barriers, vulnerability and to question how our exposure or anonymity affects our actions.”](https://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/AE-REHAPPENING-330x248.png)
“We like to look at the history and legacy of the college and connect that past work with contemporary practice,” says BMCM+AC executive director Jeff Arnal. Attendees can experience this philosophy in action at the college’s former grounds, now Camp Rockmont, on Saturday, March 31.
Last year, a handful of area farmers planted the first hemp crops to be grown legally in Western North Carolina in over 70 years. That first crop was plagued by delays introduced by regulators at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, who held up shipments of seeds and seedlings, leading to a late start. Growers expect a smoother process for the 2018 growing season.
For faith leaders wondering what they can do to improve security, law enforcement agencies across Western North Carolina offer assessments and training to help places of worship ensure the safety of those who gather under their roofs.
The growing network of relationships that comprises WNC’s local food system is far more complex than just farmer and buyer.
Whatever their original purpose, many local dams are now seen as ecologically problematic. Nonprofits, community groups and government agencies throughout Western North Carolina are now working to remove this legacy of outdated dams. Although challenging, the process offers benefits for the wildlife, safety and recreation potential of the area’s waterways.
![WORDS ON THE STREET: Spaceman Jones & The Motherships, the collaboration of rapper Davaion Bristol, aka Spaceman Jones, left, and producer Cliff Worsham of RBTS WIN, are picking up the pace of their releases in response to current events. "Now, more than ever, [people in power] want us not to speak,” Worsham says.](https://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/IMG_0023-330x185.png)
The duo’s approach to live performance is adapting to this less-is-more philosophy. “We’ve learned that features don’t really work — it’s enough with just [Davaion Bristol] and me,” Cliff Worsham says.
The highest peak in the Plott Balsam Mountains, Waterrock Knob encompasses a unique ecosystem. The Blue Ridge Parkway will now conserve 5,329 acres of this irreplaceable landscape thanks to recent land and financial gifts by a network of conservation groups and private donors. The public is invited to weigh in on plans for the area through Feb. 25.
In 1959, Alabama state senator E.O. Eddins Sr. (renamed Higgins in the play) became aware of a children’s book called The Rabbits’ Wedding, which showed the marriage of a white rabbit to a black rabbit, and demanded that the title be pulled from Alabama public library shelves.
“The whole point of this event is to build community,” says Juan Holladay. “To really do that, you have to involve young musicians as well, because that’s as local as it gets.”
Every Christmas season since 1900, birders across North and Latin America have braved wintry conditions to participate in the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count. On Monday, Jan. 1, Asheville’s ornithological enthusiasts will contribute their own observations to the Christmas Bird Count’s 118th year.
At noon on Friday, Jan. 19, visitors will get an in-depth look at Norton’s yet-to-be-revealed 2017 gift during one of the museum’s Art Break events.
Advocates for clean water in North Carolina often focus on the eastern part of the state, which hosts one of the world’s highest concentration of hogs. But French Broad Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson emphasizes that Western North Carolina and its smaller farms are not immune from the water quality issues related to animal agriculture.
The sudden closure of the area’s only poultry processing plant in October not only caused a pre-Thanksgiving scramble for local turkey producers, but continues to impact Western North Carolina’s small farms.
Asheville loves its organic produce. But the same shoppers who scrupulously avoid conventional fruits and vegetables may not think twice about the practices used to raise another of Western North Carolina’s agricultural mainstays — Christmas trees.
Recorded over an intense three-week stretch this summer in Grand Rapids, Mich., to coincide with Cooper’s teaching duties at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, the arrangements are constructed lightly, giving plenty of room for her delicate melodies and overdubbed harmonies to shine through.
From cultivating fungus to manipulating gluten, local entrepreneurs take a scientific approach to crafting savory and satisfying vegan proteins.
Earlier this year, the dance-rock group took some rare time off from performing to record a new album, titled Natural Mind, which it celebrates with a hometown show on Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Asheville Music Hall.
Area Realtors and architects are paying close attention to the effects of climate change on the built environment — and gaining new skills to help clients consider climate-related issues as they make real estate decisions. The Asheville chapter of the American Institute of Architects is hosting a conference, titled “Where Building Science Meets Climate Science,” at The Collider on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 2-3.
Asheville City Council and mayoral candidates fielded questions about everything from childhood hunger to city-county food policy partnerships at a recent food-focused forum at Lenoir-Rhyne University.