Catch the MPAC buzz: Psst! Rumor has it that a curious coalition of cyclists, aerial artists, rugby players, soccer enthusiasts and the like are working to fund and build a multisport facility in North Asheville. The “Multi Purpose Athletic and Community Complex” is a “nonprofit community effort to bring a state-of-the-art athletic, community, health-and-wellness facility […]
Author: Margaret Williams
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The Green Scene
Imagine that you’re on a coffee farm in Nicaragua. After pulping and rinsing the coffee “cherries,” the precious beans are dried, sold and shipped all around the world for roasting and brewing. It’s good, tasty stuff. Coffee from cherries: Your cup of joe begins as a little red “cherry” with two coffee beans hidden inside. […]
EPA repeals rule that restricts mountaintop-removal mining
Despite vocal opposition from environmental groups, the public and politicians, the Environmental Protection Agency repealed a stream-buffer-zone rule that — since 1983 — had prohibited surface coal-mining activities within 100 feet of flowing streams.
Biking with the Xmas lights
Asheville on Bikes is hosting The Bright Light Biker on Saturday, Dec. 6 — a late-afternoon, early evening bicycle tour aimed at lighting up the town on many levels. Organizers urge participants, “Light up yourself. Light up the family. Light up your bike. And ride your city to show your ‘Bicycle Love.’”
Snag your apple trees at the Peace Garden
When other folks are planting flower bulbs for spring blooms, the Johnny Appleseeds among us are planting apple trees. A good place to get them is the Peace Garden at Pisgah View Apartments. On Sat., Dec. 6, from 10 a.m. to noon, you can dig up and take home an apple tree for $35.
The Green Scene
On an ice-cold November night, almost 200 people gathered for a public hearing called by the state Division of Water Quality concerning developer Jim Anthony‘s request for permission to alter 6,149 feet of streams and disturb about a quarter-acre of wetlands at The Cliffs at High Carolina. The 2,780-acre project straddles a mountain ridge between […]
Outdoor Journal
Walk off some of that turkey: For your post-Thanksgiving-weekend recovery, check out the Holiday Open House at the new Blue Ridge Parkway Destination Center. For the free event, the facility will open its doors on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 29 and 30, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Take a free tour of the visitor […]
Outdoor Journal
Be a Wondergirl sidekick: Nearly 1,000 girls from all across Western North Carolina have weathered 14 weeks of training as they aim for running the Winter Wondergirl 5K on Saturday, Dec. 13. They’re almost ready, but to pull off the noon event, organizers need your help between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. that day. The […]
The Green Scene
Corn and tomatoes are both water hogs on the farm. But in North Carolina’s continuing drought, the first crop suffered heavy losses for the second consecutive year, while the latter prospered. That’s the nature of farming, perhaps, but at least for some growers hit hard by the drought, help may come not from rain but […]
Speak your mind about water quality and The Cliffs
The North Carolina Division of Water Quality wants your input on the Water Quality Certification requested for The Cliffs at High Carolina project in southern Buncombe County. On Tues., Nov. 18, starting at 6:30 p.m. at A.C. Reynolds High School in Fairview, the division is holding a public hearing.
The Green Scene
A reader’s call-in question led Xpress from plastics to thieves this week. At the start, we set out to find out why some plastic can be recycled and some can’t. We got an answer but then stumbled upon a perplexing trend in the world of recycling: thieves who’ll snatch up aluminum cans, washers and dryers, […]
WNC stays mainly Republican red
Colorful election maps may still be dominating the 2008 election coverage, but what does it all mean? In Western North Carolina, Buncombe and Jackson counties went for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, but they were dots of blue afloat in a sea of Republican red. That’s the big picture, at any rate (The Washington Post […]
Take the Turkey Tour on LaZoom’s big purple bus
Imagine this: It’s Thanksgiving week, your family’s visiting and you’ve all got cabin fever. According to the folks at LaZoom Tours, that’s the time to jump onboard Asheville’s “rolling theater” for a holiday special that lets you laugh your turkey off. LaZoom’s “Turkey Tour” is a two-hour ride on a purple biodiesel bus staffed by […]
Outdoor Journal
Dreams of spring paddling: Leaves may be falling and waters may be chilling around Western North Carolina, but it’s not too soon to dream about spring paddling adventures. On Saturday, Nov. 15, Diamond Brand Outdoors and a local paddling company will co-host the first ever Green River Adventures Day. The event will take place at […]
The Green Scene
Environmental awards have been piling up like fall leaves around here. Xpress thought you might like to know who’s been winning what, and why. Asheville’s got (compressed) gas Eight years ago this month, Mark Combs persuaded Asheville’s City Council to add natural-gas-fueled vehicles to its fleet. The public-works director argued that grants were available for […]
Outdoor Journal
Point Lookout reborn: Once upon a time, motorists crossing the mountain ridge between Marion and Asheville stopped at Point Lookout to take their picture with Sally the brown bear, grab a hot dog at the mountaintop restaurant and stand by the flagpole for a spectacular view of Royal Gorge. The spot was popular in the […]
The Green Scene
Kim Zorn keeps death at her doorstep—and all in the family. She runs the Green Casket Co., whose workshop in Candler produces biodegradable coffins. The business also draws on the talents of her carpenter husband, Ron Prior, their four big sons, and furniture maker Braun Meriwether. Casket testing: The best way to test a pine […]
Outdoor Journal
Get out for Halloween: The holiday makes us want to get outdoors—perhaps so we won’t be trapped inside with any malevolent spirits. With that in mind, consider one event that gets you in motion, too (and ready to bike or run your way out of any nightmarish trouble). Asheville on Bikes presents the Pumpkin Pedaller—a […]
Garden Journal
See you in the spring: Alas, this week’s feature article, “Do Not Disturb,” marks the season’s end for our gardening section, The Dirt. Till next March, we’ll put it out to pasture or—as author Cinthia Milner would have it—let it go dormant and hang our “Do not disturb” sign. In my own garden, I’ve hastened […]
The Dirt: The goodbye garden
As leaves fall and a late frost arrives, I gaze at my garden. I’ve been busy these past few weeks, and now I’m weighed down by the guilt of all the unfinished garden tasks. Driving to work, I’ve seen other gardens freshly plowed, cleared of their brown cornstalks and rotting tomatoes. Mine remains a mix […]
The Green Scene
Mars Hill College students help conserve endangered bluets The mission is simple yet daunting: Save the Roan Mountain bluet (Hedyotis purpurea var. montana). From May through September, the rare flower peeks out of rock crevices and gravelly soils at high elevations around Roan Mountain. But the endangered species, found in a mere five Western North […]