Local youths learn sewing, upcycling skills

Olivia Slosiarek was struggling to sew a collar on the bodice of a dress. “Why did you choose a supercomplicated dress?” Stina Andersen asked her young student with a smile. Slosiarek’s answer was thoughtful: She explained that something about the below-the-knee dress, depicted on a 1980s McCall’s pattern she found in Andersen’s classroom, appealed to […]

Trans women in Asheville share their experience­s

Asheville has a reputation as welcoming individuals of all gender identities and sexual orientations. The city has numerous gender-affirming health care providers, social groups for the LGBTQ community and inclusive arts and culture spaces. Yet the local trans women who spoke with Xpress say they’ve continued to face bigotry in their careers, health care and social lives.

WTF: Fentanyl test strips

North Carolina criminalizes the possession of drug-testing equipment as drug paraphernalia. The state defines paraphernalia as “all equipment, products and materials of any kind that are used … [for] testing, analyzing … or otherwise introducing controlled substances in the human body.” But the state also exempts the possession of fentanyl test strips “for personal use.”