Herbs are sprouting in peat cups on the windowsills. Tulips planted by a home's previous owners are popping up in unexpected places in my yard. Country gardeners, I noted on a Sunday drive, have tilled their plots, and some have already planted early season greens. A West Asheville neighbor was raking out a flowerbed, and […]
Author: Margaret Williams
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The Xpress staff blog roundup: Of markets, social media and Shuler (and more!)
A trip to Asheville’s Downtown Market nets everything from tempeh to toilet paper. City Council jumps into social media. Shuler fights for re-election (against what odds?). Clouds — all this and more, in the wide world of Xpress’ staff blogs.
Google in the sky with diamonds
In the rush to snag Google's offer to provide superfast, 1-gigabit-per-second Internet connectivity to a small- to medium-sized American town, some communities are temporarily changing their name (Google, Kan., instead of Topeka; Google, N.C., instead of Carrboro). Should Asheville do the same? Mayor Terry Bellamy posed that question as she took the microphone, working the […]
Asheville holds a town-hall meeting to build support for Google’s fiber project
Twitter coverage of last night’s town-hall meeting; ***UPDATED WITH VIDEOS***
The roots did it: Sewage cleanup under way at river park
Do you know where your waste goes after you flush it down the toilet? In the case of a 12-inch line that overflowed near the French Broad River Park on Sunday, it rushes downhill along Riverview Road on its way to a pumping station that carries it across the river. But on Sunday, that flow got interrupted, and citizen journalist Zen Sutherland snapped this photo of the nasties. Cleanup is under way, Metropolitan Sewerage District officials report. The problem? Probably a tree root.
CIBO: Chicken biscuits and familiar faces
The faces seem to stay the same at the Council of Independent Owners. They’re just older than they were almost 10 years ago — which is about the last time I attended one of their monthly, 7-a.m. breakfast meetings. On March 12, as members and guests (including me and fellow Xpress journalist David Forbes) chowed […]
Brevard College Hosts Community Outdoor Gear Swap March 20
Brevard College will host a community outdoor gear swap on Saturday, March 20, as part of the Banff Film Festival Weekend. There will also be paddling and cycling clinics. The swap, which will offer an excellent chance to get good prices on used outdoor gear, will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at […]
Earth Day art/poetry contest deadline March 17
There’s only one week left to submit for RiverLink’s 3rd Annual Earth Day Art and Poetry Contest! Submission deadline is Wednesday, March 17, say contest sponsors RiverLink. Pictured here, Olivia Soosar, a second-grader at Veritas Christian Academy, offers her vision of Earth Day.
Dig It!
The WNC Agricultural Options Program recently awarded 42 farmers the seed money they need to complete a variety of diversification projects. This year's recipients, who are sharing a total pot of $225,000, are selling locally raised meats at the WNC Farmers Market in Asheville; creating additional markets for established strawberry, trout and edible-landscaping enterprises; and […]
Organic farming lessons at Red Wing start March 27
Starting on March 27, 2010, Red Wing Farm will be offering a 4-part series of classes on basic organic gardening, meeting one Saturday per month for the months of March, April, May, and June. The classes are highly interactive, hands-on, participatory, experiential classes to help students learn what they need to know to create a […]
Fly-tying, casting and knots, March 20 at Johnston Farm
Saturday, March 20 – Fly Tying & Casting Class with Dale Klug of Avery Creek Outfitters and volunteers of Trout Unlimited — including Jack Frisch of Trout Unlimited Pisgah Chapter will team up for a fly-tying and casting class on March 20 at the historic Johnston Farm Museum and Heritage Education Center. Dale Klug is […]
Land-of-Sky gets piece of $7.8 million grant to reduce greenhouse gases
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that Land of Sky Region Council in Asheville, North Carolina is among 20 U.S. communities, including two Indian Tribes, to receive $7.8 million in grants for projects that will reduce greenhouse gases (GHG). The funds will help Climate Showcase Communities increase energy efficiency, saving consumers money and […]
The Green Scene
Our local colleges keep the green flames burning: Here are a few upcoming ecoevents at Warren Wilson College and UNCA. Food security Ethnobiologist Gary Paul Nabhan — facilitator/founder of the Slow Foods project Renewing America's Food Traditions and author of such seminal tomes as Coming Home to Eat — will give a free public lecture […]
Land-of-Sky gets rural, housing-related grant
The Asheville-based Land-of-Sky Regional Council has received a $50,700 Rural Development grant. The funds are dedicated to helping Land-of-Sky train and bolster local nonprofits in their efforts to provide housing support to those in need.
Firearms law change in wildlife refuges: What do you think?
In accordance with a new law voted in by Congress, new regulations take effect Feb. 22 for National Wildlife Refuges, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services reports. The law allows lawful possession of a firearm within refuge boundaries. Read the Wildlife Service press release, and let us know what you think.
The Green Scene
So what was Copenhagen all about? A half-dozen Asheville climate scientists and educators attended COP 15 — the Copenhagen climate conference — in December. And on Friday, Feb. 26, four of them will offer their perspectives in an event co-hosted by the Buncombe County chapter of the Western North Carolina Alliance and Asheville Green Drinks. […]
North Shore Road settlement brings $52 million to Swain County
In a long-sought settlement, the National Park Service will pay Swain County $52 million, approximating today's cost of a county road that was flooded in the 1940s when Fontana Lake was created. On Feb. 5, county commissioners voted 4-1 to accept the settlement, which will be paid in installments and placed into a trust fund. […]
The Green Scene
The solar fixtures crowning a West Asheville laundromat are not the flat-panel type that's become almost commonplace these days. Like most such devices, they're angled to catch the sun, but each panel also sports a large tubular tank perched atop an array of tubes. Sunny work: Entrepreneur Kevin Wei and Green Opportunities graduate Michael Moore […]
Outdoors: Row, row and really row your boat
On Jan. 3, Warren Wilson College grad Katie Spotz started rowing — solo — across the Atlantic in a 19-foot boat. She undertook the journey to raise money for the nonprofit Blue Planet Run Foundation, and if she completes the 2,500-mile, 70- to 100-day journey, she'll become the youngest person to accomplish the feat. Spotz […]
Friday night mudslide in Maggie Valley not uncommon
Friday night, Tammy Jones was trapped in the basement of her home after a 90-foot-wide mudslide tore down 3,000 feet of mountainside land on Rich Cove Road in Maggie Valley. Jones was rescued, and no other residents were injured, but about 40 people have been evacuated because the danger for more slides remains, say state geologists.
Settlement for North Shore Road will bring $52 million to Swain County
In a long-sought settlement, the National Park Service will pay Swain County $52 million. The announcement came from Rep. Heath Shuler’s office.