First, it was free rent for decades, with a six-month don’t-tell-the-public gift from the county, for the Woodfin energy plant. And now it’s 50 percent off assessed land value and another 50 percent off the land price for the county-owned Pack Square land, with another six months don’t-tell-the-public-until-construction-starts gift. Whoever is putting these deals together […]

After reading the article “Flag Fight” [Xpress, Aug. 1], I just felt compelled to write this letter. I wish first of all to congratulate the writer of the piece, David Forbes, for his excellent journalism skills. You are among a very small and elite group of writers who are good enough to claim the title […]

Like my fellow writers who have voiced the woes about the destruction of our area, my neighborhood too will soon be gone. Someone went and bought all the woods that I played in as a child and will now rip it to pieces to build houses that will overlook the McDowell Bridge and the junkyard […]

Fascism: a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce etc., and emphasizing aggressive nationalism and often racism (www.thedictonary.com). Though it may surprise many of my friends, this is the first letter of this kind that I have ever written. Many events transpire in our […]

There was some talk recently about how many downtown merchants lose business during Bele Chere. I can easily see why. I have found that many downtown businesses that pretend to be so hip and artsy are in fact pretentious, arrogant and hostile to certain people who may choose to dress differently from the norm. This […]

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a neighborly day in the neighborhood—could you be my neighbor? Hey, boys and girls, can you say “23-story high-rise eyesore in the middle of downtown Asheville? Sure, ya can. And boys and girls, can you say “Shame on Nathan (Conflict-of-Interest) Ramsey and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, […]

Congratulations to Mountain Xpress for having won “a slew of new awards” [“Letter From the Editors,” July 5]. I very much enjoy reading the Xpress, particularly the letters to the editor and the interesting range of advertising. I especially enjoy the fact that many of the articles I read are evergreen to me, in that […]

It’s a good thing you folks are in Asheville. You do a great job with “facts.” A lost art in today’s world of spin, overspeak and just plain flimflam. — Curtis Beaird Ailey, Ga.

I have been a fan of your paper for years and I am just getting to know your wonderful Web site. I think you are doing a huge disservice to your readers and to our community by allowing certain advertisements to be displayed on your Web site. Google-generated advertisements that feature such glamorous proclamations as […]

The recommendations of the 9/11 Commission just finally passed the Senate, after five years of the report being ignored. Only eight senators voted against it, one of them being North Carolina’s Elizabeth Dole. Dole continually claims to be in the party of National Security, yet she voted against screening cargo, against protecting potential terrorist [targets] […]

I was astounded to read the Mountain Xpress article [“Flag Fight,” Aug. 1] about the Buncombe County Sheriff’s deputy who doesn’t understand the United States Constitution, including the Bill of Rights—the first of which guarantees citizens the right to freedom of expression. Oh, wait! There’s a local ordinance. Too bad. Federal law takes precedence over […]

We have read with great concern the articles about the [alleged] breaking and entering of a resident’s house in West Asheville. We regret was has happened to the Kuhns, and we stand with them. Above and beyond that, we are appalled that a Buncombe County official could [allegedly] break into and enter a resident’s house […]