Line item: If the Founding Fathers hadn’t been so busy throwing off the yoke of British imperialism, they might have found more time to toss a line in their favorite fishing holes. You can celebrate freedom on July 4 by enjoying a free day of fishing. That’s right—no license needed for the 24 hours that […]
Author: Kent Priestley
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Got raw milk?
In this week’s Xpress is a story by yours truly about a recent push to overturn a N.C. ban on “cow shares,” a farmer-consumer arrangement that allows the latter to legally obtain raw milk.
Testing, testing, one, two, three …
Taking the words “Get Real. Get Tested,” as their motto, Buncombe and surrounding counties will observe National HIV Testing Day from June 27 to 29.
Raw deal?
The words “raw milk” are likely to cause a shudder in people working in the public-health arena. Mention the stuff and they’ll sit you down and lecture you on typhoid fever, salmonella, tuberculosis and listeria, several of the deadly pathogens that have historically been linked to unpasteurized milk. Some like it raw: Advocates would like […]
Foraging ahead
Some time ago, chickens came to live outside the apartments at 85 Starnes Ave., located off Flint Street two blocks north of the Asheville Civic Center. Several generations later, and against long odds, chickens persist at the address. By day they forage in the soil beneath a row of hemlocks, occasionally stepping out for some […]
Outdoor Journal
Land sakes: The nonprofit Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy has done its part to preserve open space and rein in sprawl since 1994, work that’s added up to a very considerable 16,200 of protected acres in these parts. This year, the organization is teaming up with Diamond Brand Outdoors to offer a $20 gift card to […]
Too much commissioners is never enough: Buncombe board preview
Today’s regular meeting of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners promises to be a real humdinger, with a number of contentious items scheduled to fall under the board’s gaze.
Ruth Bell Graham dead; Buncombe Commissioners declare day of mourning
Ruth Bell Graham, wife of evangelist Billy Graham, died on Thursday around 5 p.m.
Ruth Graham in coma, near death
The Associated Press reports that Ruth Graham, wife of evangelist Billy Graham, fell into a coma on Wednesday morning and “appears to be entering the final stages of life,” according to Larry Ross, Graham’s personal spokesman, as quoted in the story.
She didn’t dabble, she delivered
Who was Wilma Dykeman? It’s more than a rhetorical question. For many, her name reaches only as far as the banks of the French Broad, the river she lived near all her life and illuminated in her first book, 1955’s The French Broad. Dalai Mama! The French Broad author hangs out with His Holiness. But […]
Facing the rock
Since crossing the finish line of my first 10K road race when I was 5 years old, I’ve only taken a few breaks from running. As a running coach, I’m always encouraging runners to cross-train to give their bodies and mind a break from pounding the pavement (or the trail), and I try to follow […]
Outdoor Journal
Hilarity along the trail: Jeff Alt, author of A Walk For Sunshine (Dreams Shared Publications, 2000), will tell what it’s like to live in the woods for six months. He’ll do it through music, slides and personal narration on Saturday, June 23, at the Blue Ridge Parkway’s Waterrock Knob visitors’ center. The event begins at […]
Picholine
Flavor: Comfort fare with a European flair Ambiance: Continental chic The street-level space at 64 Haywood St. has been something of a turnstile for café-themed businesses in the last few years. Most recently, the address served as Everyday Gourmet, a straight-ahead café with limited food options. Those who’ve been in Asheville longer recall it as […]
Outdoor Journal
Snakeheads on the march?: The northern snakehead was all the talk five years ago when it reared its toothy head in the greater Washington, D.C., area. In time the media frenzy subsided, but reports about the exotic fish keep filing in. Last week, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission reported that in May one was caught […]
Out of town
Local kayaker Katie Hilleke is a monster paddler, fearless when it comes to stretches of the Green River that give most sane people pause. She’s also a survivor.
Who are these people?
Area residents have the love/hate relationship with tourists typical of any region where visitation is a big economic driver, i.e. we’re happy to unburden their wallets, but can’t stand their driving skills.
Going down swinging
There was little last week to suggest that the Asheville Global Report, in print for more than eight years, would soon cease to exist in that form. Think global, print local: From left, AGR editors Eamon Martin, Rob Livingston, Greg White and Heather Houdek lament the newspaper’s demise, but insist its spirit will live on. […]
Outdoor Journal
Is that a lunker in your pocket? For fishing fellowship, you could do considerably worse than the Pigeon Valley Bassmasters, a group that believes that no one should be alone when discussing the latest developments in bass-fishing technology. The group holds its next meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 11, beginning at 7 p.m. […]
Wake up and smell the jams: Xpress selects a Bonnaroo winner!!
Asheville resident Jamie Hall just got a surprise call from Mountain Xpress. She won our online contest for coveted tickets to the three-day Bonnaroo music festival through a little something called “the luck of the draw.”
Shuler sounds off on immigration
If you’ve begun thinking that political voices on NPR are limited to party bigwigs like Trent Lott, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, think again.
Buncombe County Commissioners
The May 15 meeting of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners led off with a bit of news. To those present, Chairman Nathan Ramsey read the text of an e-mail from Ken Maxwell, community relations manager for Progress Energy, which was addressed to County Manager Wanda Greene. The power company has been involved in a […]