Snorkeling for the environment? You betcha. On Saturday, Aug. 14, the Western North Carolina Alliance, the Little Tennessee Watershed Association and the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee will host a snorkeling trip on the Little Tennessee River to explore the environment in what they promise is a new and exciting way.
photo courtesy of the US Fish & Wildlife Service
Author: Margaret Williams
Showing 1051-1071 of 1653 results
CTS files breach-of-contract lawsuit against Mills Gap Road Associates
The Elkhardt, Ind.,-based CTS Corp. has filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against Mills Gap Road Associates. The suit alleges that the local partnership has failed to honor an agreement to share in the costs of cleaning up a contaminated site on Mills Gap Road as required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2004. CTS seeks “damages … no less than $847,000” from MGRA and further declares that the partnership is responsible for all of CTS’ future costs in the cleanup and assessment of the site, where massive levels of trichloroethylene and other contaminants have been found — and named as the likely source of contaminated wells and springs near the site.
(Almost) live from Bele Chere 2010: An air dog’s last leap
Local cartoonist Bill LaRocque — aka the creator of Granola Park, which has recently been added to Xpress — shared his view of a few scenes from Bele Chere 2010. Here’s one …
Taking the broader view of Bele Chere: Photos by Jamison Parker
Like seeing in all directions at once, you get a different feel for Bele Chere 2010 in this photo of crowds gathered for the magic show at Rankin and College
_thumb.jpg)
photo by Jamison Parker
Bele Chere umbrellas: Saturday, July 24
The heat is on at Bele Chere 2010. Umbrellas and big hats abound — here’s a sampling of those glimpsed by the MXNews team.
photo by Margaret Williams<
Bele Chere beginnings
On Thursday, July 22, Bele Chere started with the golf-cart brigades — skads of volunteers and city staffer on foot, buzzing around in carts, setting up street barriers, unloading garbage and recycling barrels, walking around with clipboards and cell phones… By midday on Friday, the streets, the booths, the vendors, the police, the bands, the stages will all be ready for the flood of Bele Chere visitors.
photos by Margaret Williams
Author hikes to save historic Shuckstack fire tower
Would you hike the Appalachian Trail to save an old lookout tower? Author and soon-to-be Asheville resident Peter Barr would … and is. He wants to save the Shuckstack fire tower in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and as of July 9, he has raised $2,178 — almost one-third what he estimates it will take to repair and restore the structure.
In this 1951 photo, Ranger Cooley scans the 360-degree view from the Shuckstack tower.
Mountain Xpress takes 1st place for 2009 multimedia project
Mountain Xpress has won first place from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies for its 2009 multimedia project, “We are Burton Street: The Neighborhood’s Stand Against D.O.T.” The group effort involved Xpress staff and a host of citizen contributors — using video, audio and articles to tell the story of how one highway project affected a small, traditionally African-American neighborhood in West Asheville, North Carolina.
Sunny days: Sunflowers in season
Temperatures may likely push 90 degrees today, as Western North Carolina remains hot and, overall, a bit dry (Buncombe joins much of the state in the lowest level drought conditions, “abnormally dry,” but some counties — including nearby Jackson, Swain and Macon — have dried out enough to be in level two, Moderate Drought). But a West Asheville sunflower brings a little morning cheer. Look for afternoon showers and muggy conditions later today, however. 
photo by Margaret Williams
Get your hula on!
Tuesdays at Pritchard Park mean it’s Hula Hoop time in downtown Asheville. This July 13 shot was captured by local photographer Jerry Nelson.
Art & arboretum: Tennessee artist Margaret Scanlan’s work featured
Art and arboretum go together: Through August 22, visitors to the N.C. Arboretum can enjoy the work of Tennessee artist Margaret Scanlan. Her exhibit, Balance and Beauty: A Visual Celebration of Rural Life features rich colors and the “quiet beauty of the pastoral rural landscape,” according to the Arboretum press release. For more details, see the full release.
Around town: Local singer/songwriter Lyric
On this toasty Thursday, July 8, Asheville singer/songwriter Lyric graced the Woolsworth sidewalk with “Blue Skies in the Morning.” Last October, the young resident was featured in an Xpress ““Soundtrack””. And she’ll be playing Friday, July 9, at the White Horse for the Blue Ridge Talent Competition finalist reunion show.
Flat Iron Building gets solar panels
The Flat Iron Building — built in 1926, just two years before Asheville City Hall — is getting greener: On Thursday, July 8, Crane crews hoisted several solar panels up to the roof of the eight-story, Beaux art-style building. The panels will heat the water used by the the building’s steam-radiator heating system.
photo by Jerry Nelson
Balloon over Asheville
Traffic’s light for downtown Asheville on Monday, July 5, as city crews clean up from last night’s fireworks, the air warms up … and a lone balloon rises over town. This Wednesday, Xpress will feature one local resident’s hot-air balloon ride. 
photo by Margaret Williams
Shindig on the Green: The view from above and the ground
Here’s what Shindig on the Green looked like from atop the Jackson Building: sunshine highlighting the city and county buildings, and lots of people (Kamm’s Custards folks posted notes on Twitter about not having enough ice cream for everyone). photo by Jerry Nelson. Meanwhile, AskAsheville was shooting video on the ground …
Free no more: Pay walls go up online for three Gannett newspapers
Three Gannett newspaper recently debuted pay walls, including one close to WNC — the Tallahassee Democrat, The Greenville (S.C.) News and The (St. George, Utah) Spectrum. Pay walls block free access to a publication, requiring viewers to pay first, read later. Is the Asheville Citizen-Times next?
Close to home
David Gantt has branded the lack of work-force housing the Asheville area's "dirty little secret." "It's not right to tell workers we need them but [they] can't live here," said Gantt, Chairman of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, at a June 15 press conference at the Governor's Western Residence in Asheville. image courtesy of […]
Light polls: Turnout for Marshall-Cunningham runoff slim
Turnout light for the Marshall-Cunningham runoff to pick a Democrat to challenge U.S. Sen. Burr? Judging by this Tuesday, June 22, afternoon photo by Xpress intern Halima Flynt … yes. Fewer than 60 voters had turned out by the time Flynt snapped this shot at the Montford Community Center. Across Buncombe County, such numbers amounted to about 4.26 percent of registered voters.
Science fiction or a real possibility? WNC featured in Nat’l Geographic’s “Electronic Armageddon”
A Tuesday, June 22, television premier on the National Geographic Explorer channel features scenes from Black Mountain and WNC: Electronic Armageddon. In this shot, Black Mountain’s Cherry Street shows what might happen to newer-model cars if a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse were used in an attack on the U.S.
Xpress readers might recall a July 8, 2009, interview and profile with local author Bill Forstchen (”Apocalypse WNC,” by Jon Elliston). The Montreat College history professor penned One Second After which imagines what would happen in a HEMP attack. The National Geographic’s take on the possibility airs tonight at 6 p.m. Here’s the introduction to the show:
Twelve years ago: A split Hillcrest and City Council struggled with the closed pedestrian bridge
“What to do about the Hillcrest walkway?” was the subhead of a May 1998 Xpress news article detailing residents’ views on whether to close the pedestrian bridge leading over I-240 from Hillcrest to West Asheville.
The article begins: “‘Tell me your gut feeling,’ Asheville Mayor Leni Sitnick asked Hillcrest resident Lynnette Maybin on May 5. The mayor wanted to know whether the Hillcrest pedestrian bridge over Interstate-240 should be reopened or left closed. In February, late one evening, a young man was killed trying to cross the interstate. But four years ago, Hillcrest residents urged the city to close that bridge, to stem the tide of drug dealing in their community. …”
A Long Way from Home: New study highlights lack of workforce housing in Asheville area
“The lack of workforce housing in desirable areas like Asheville and Buncombe County often forces essential workers, such as teachers, nurses and police personnel, to seek housing in outlying areas far from where they work. The result: long commutes that have negative impacts on those workers … and on the local and global environments.”
So begins a new report from UNC Chapel Hill’s Center for Urban & Regional Studies: A Long Way from Home: The Impacts of a Limited Supply of Workforce Housing in the Asheville Metropolitan Area. Researchers unveiled the study at a Tuesday, June 15, morning press conference at the Governor’s Western Residence in Asheville. Xpress attended, and here’s the collected Tweets (short notes) from managing news editor Margaret Williams.