I'd like to offer a few observations and opinions about the upcoming City Council election. My thoughts are based on my experience writing about the Council and city issues during my tenure several years ago as a reporter for Mountain Xpress. During that time I was continually amazed by the level of passion displayed by […]

A few day ago I received an "URGENT WARNING! Please read!" ad in my snail-mail. Opening it, the ad was titled, "Who is Cecil Bothwell?" Could it be a "Get to know your City Council Candidate" flier? No, it turned out instead to be an attack ad prattling on and on, spouting misquotes and misinformation, […]

I am trying to understand the burning of Bibles in Waynesville on Halloween Night. The preacher of that Baptist church claims that the King James Version of the Bible is the only true, authorized Holy Bible, and all other Bibles and other religious writings should be burned. By his actions and his speech, this man […]

Seriously … it's not loud motorcycles that are creating traffic hazards and unpleasantness. It's not motorcycles that are being built on the mountains and destroying the beauty of this region. It's not loud motorcycles that are crowding us with obnoxious, aggressive behavior. I love the sound of loud motorcycles. To me it is the sound […]

I would like to bring to light a subject that is about light. I have lived in the Leicester community for 15 years and have done so because of its relative "peace and quiet." Peace and quiet can mean many things to many people, but to me peace is living in relative harmony with your […]

Many thanks are in order to you and [A&E Editor] Rebecca Sulock for sharing URTV's real story with the community ["You Make It, They Air It," Oct. 14]. As you can see, URTV is community, and is the community's story. Ordinary citizens, your neighbors, spend many volunteer hours building relationships with fellow videographers, community-based organizations, […]

I have a comment regarding one of the stories in the News of the Weird [Oct. 14 issue]. Being a father of a two, a 21-month-old boy and 7-month-old girl, I was horrified by a story. It was in reference to a mother in Texas who left her children aged 6, 5 and 1-year-old at […]

After I watched the replays of recent town hall meetings, one thing that stood out was the convenience of filming. In this age of distrust, apparently to prove innocence or truth, video and audio taping is necessary. Pictures that can prove are admissible evidence. These perpetual Internet traces will never disappear, yet we ignore the […]

I am disgusted with all the negativity toward President Obama. I have always considered myself proud to be an American despite my differences with some of our political leaders. When President George H. Bush lied and said, "No new taxes," I wasn't upset. When George W. Bush lied about the weapons of mass destruction, I […]

Despite the critics' rhetoric, President Obama receiving the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize is a great honor not only for him but also for the American people. To win this honor is monumental for any individual; however, it's breathtaking to win this honor in a time when American popularity in the international community is severely tarnished […]

Mr. Joe Connolly, Buncombe County attorney, informed the attendees at the Aug. 5 commissioner's meeting that North Carolina has a law prohibiting residents from voting on the zoning issue. What he said is true, but he didn't go far enough. In spite of this law, we did vote on zoning in 1999 and set a […]

How ironic that a "bear attack" story would make the front page of the Citizen-Times on opening day of bear-hunting season! With the added incitement of constantly reviewing the (few) bear incidents and the declaration of record bear populations, one wonders why the Citizen-Times has declared war on Western North Carolina's most magnificent mammal. Only […]

After the recent Blue Ridge Pride festival, readers should be aware of an historical event which occurred on the evening of Sunday, Oct. 4. That event was a moving, family-friendly, interfaith worship service at First Congregational Church in Hendersonville. It was the first worship service that specifically invited gays and straights, of all abilities, throughout […]

I have been privileged to work with Esther Manheimber on the Jewish Community Center board for two years. During her time as chairman, she was able to facilitate the meetings with a natural ease in which everyone felt included. Esther had only one agenda and that was to support an already great organization and continue […]

Robin Cape is running for reelection to Asheville City Council. She was having personal problems at filing time and did not think she could run, but later reconsidered and is now running as a write-in candidate. She is not running a protest campaign. With the support of city voters, she really can win. Robin has […]

I find it reassuring, as a recent addition to the population of Western North Carolina, that so many individuals from the region are so passionate about preserving the environment. As a recent graduate of an environmental law and policy program in Vermont, I feel that, already, I fit in among friends and advocates working to […]

While I agree with some of Steven Samuels' points in his review of Sandra Mason's play Return of an Angel (which appeared online at mountainx.com), I think he missed the mark a bit. His primary objections were structure, lack of naturalism and unnecessary theatrical effect. He terms Mason's breaking of the fourth wall — with […]

On any given week, you'll find the Xpress teeming with pleas for adopting homeless dogs and cats. You'll also find multiple ads offering to sell you pieces of dead chickens, pigs, cows etc. Such is the schizophrenic relationship between humans and animals. Rarely, though, will you come across so much ink devoted to eating a […]

Michael Moore's recent movie, Capitalism: A Love Story, is an important step toward popularizing the class war, but I was disappointed that his film stopped short of attacking one key problem of capitalism head on — the problem of accumulation. He never went so far as to illustrate how capitalism's inherent inequality of socioeconomic conditions […]