I am a resident of Grovemont, in Swannanoa, as well as my daughter, her husband and my four grandchildren [who] live on Northeast Avenue, which is the proposed route to the main entrance of the VA's future nursing home. I am very concerned about the threat of increased traffic in our neighborhood as a result […]

First of all, we want everyone to understand that we fully support the location of the VA nursing facility in Swannanoa. We continue to hope that the decision-makers for this facility have the wisdom to listen to us about the serious safety issues associated with locating the entrance on narrow little Woodland Road, the proposed […]

As a lifelong citizen of Woodfin and Asheville, I am profoundly disappointed by the Woodfin's town administrator, Jason Young, being in favor of the proposed "roundabout" project, especially considering that very few were in favor of this project last Tuesday (May 18).  This "roundabout" is not only unnecessary but obviously frivolous; Young gave no purpose […]

I am disappointed that the state is planing to build the new VA nursing facility [in such a way that it] will bring an estimated 5,000 additional vehicles into a very quiet, dead-end residential and 4-H camp area in Grovemont. I feel the entrance should be from the more commercial Lake Eden road. I support […]

In response to Christian Eck's letter in the May 12 Xpress ["Democrats Don't Represent Our Mountain Values"], I would say that he does not speak for all of us living in the mountains, certainly not me and many of my friends. Anyone who supports gun ownership and gun rights is an enemy of all those […]

We at the French Broad Food Co-op hear the concern of Ashevilleans regarding the loss of a local natural food retailer to Whole Foods. Apparently, supporting a locally owned business, our vibrant community and, more importantly, our local food producers, touches close to the heart of our community. We recognize this and are proud to […]

Research shows that the first five years of life lay the foundation for all future learning and that those [receiving] high quality care are far more likely to graduate from high school, commit fewer crimes, be homeowners and have higher earnings. More importantly, they will provide communities with a higher skilled workforce that will be […]

I want to thank Mr. Eck for his viewpoints on values as it stimulated me to think more deeply about this subject ["Democrats Don't Represent our Mountain Values," May 5]. In reality, true human values are universal.  They can be claimed by neither mountain nor coast. They do not originate from north, south, east or […]

I found Mr. Christian Eck's view — that Democratic values are somehow not complementary to "mountain values" — most shortsighted and offensive ["Democrats Don't Represent Our Mountain Values," May 5]. Let's look another way at some of the ones he lists: Limited government. These two words mean absolutely nothing without the details. Does it mean […]

We hope you'll allow us this opportunity and forum to thank the people of Asheville and our neighboring communities for supporting FANATICON (May 15). Thanks to them, we welcomed over 3,500 attendees to our first-time event.  We were somewhat anxious about introducing a convention of this kind to the area, but any fears we had […]