For more than 35 years, the private nonprofit Children’s Defense Fund has worked to ensure a healthy, fair, safe and moral start in life for every child. From her days as staff attorney for the CDF, Hillary Clinton has worked as an advocate for greater opportunities for all children. As an educator for most of […]

As a retired, progressive female, I would love to see a woman president. But is Hillary’s sniper-fire tale a blatant lie or delusion? Obama demonstrated judgment and courage in opposing this war. His genealogical tree includes six presidents: Bush I and II, Ford, Johnson, Truman and Hamilton—who authored our Constitution. That’s reassuring after Reverend Wright’s […]

When City Council voted unanimously to approve Ravenscroft, a mixed-use development planned for the South Slope, the entire downtown community benefited. That’s because the developers have agreed to save all of the trees on one of the parcels, preserving sorely needed green space. Developers Jerry and David Payne listened to our neighborhood’s concerns about the […]

I have to respond to the article “Victims No More” in the April 16 Mountain Xpress. As one of several victim advocates who spent many, many hours working with Carol Yerkes, I do take great offense at her implication that no one in the criminal justice system cares about victims. I am a victim advocate […]

I recently discovered your paper and fell in love. Thank you for a truly informative and entertaining piece of media. I love it! Although I write this lovely compliment, I have to say that I am writing to respond to a [commentary] by H. Byron Ballard [“Bewitched: Baba Yaga in the Sacred Landscape,” April 2]. […]

In our new techno-crazed world, we often lose sight of what was once important to us. Cell phones, IMs, e-mail, computers—they all make us forget the true wonders of life, the beauty of our natural world. It doesn’t matter what religion or if you even have a belief [system], we all still live here on […]

I’d like to personally invite everyone out to support Asheville music at the 2008 Asheville Music Jamboree, May 23 to 25, where the Asheville Music Hall of Fame will be making its debut. We’ll be holding a fundraiser, selling engraved bricks to “help pave the way” for this much-needed tribute. They will be $100 for […]

What’s wrong with this picture? There is a history-making Democratic primary being contested in our state, and Hillary Clinton is insulting blue-collar workers. The media claims that her main support is from older women and blue-collar workers, while Barack Obama is being supported by the younger generation, African-Americans and the so-called latte group (those who […]

Sorry, Hillary, but you lost my vote. There was a time for leadership. It was when Bush/Cheney wanted to use the military to gain control of Iraq’s oil, but they couldn’t do it without you. Who were the leaders? Kofi Annan, the United Nations, Germany, France, Hans Blix and the inspectors searching for the weapons […]

There has been a plethora of letters to the various papers in the region recently attacking the current Jackson County Board of Commissioners and their land-use regulations and subdivision ordinances. Most of these letters are written by or for members of the real-estate business community, which should be a red flag. From the very beginnings […]

I know I am not alone in feeling like the working people of this country do not have a voice. It is clear to just about everyone in this country that we are not moving in a positive direction. We are frustrated, angry, stressed out. We have no time and are struggling to provide for […]

Like most Americans, for several weeks I have watched the tragic storms and flooding that have ravaged thousands of square miles of the heartland of our country. The toll taken on homes, families, farmland and cattle is almost incomprehensible. It will surely take months, if not years, for the people of our Midwest to return […]

Boiled-frog syndrome: That’s where the frog, when it’s put into cold water, seems quite nonchalant as the water heats up to an intolerable degree. When the temperature finally hits 212 F, the frog dies. It’s a metaphor, of course—for us. We have been heating up our world without acknowledging the symptoms, and through denial have […]

It is more important than ever that we, as a nation, let our military-service members deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan know that they are not forgotten. Letters, cards and care packages sent to our nation’s deployed troops serving far from home mean more to U.S. troops than words can say. Your help is needed to […]