I have a question: Is it not ironic that the police and all other city employees and the rest of the work force have to give a urine sample to get a job, and they have to always have the threat of random drug screens, yet those who make the laws and run the government […]
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Why not The Ellington?
Forget the shuttle, we need a light rail. The developers of “The Ellington” are handing out proposed dog bones in an ill-strategized attempt to assuage would-be critics [regarding] their new development at 35 Biltmore Ave. According to the Xpress [“Welcome to ‘The Ellington’,” May 30], they are planning on investing in shuttles (energy-efficient, whew—how forward-thinking) […]
It’s not just about people
I feel compelled to respond to Mr. Butrum’s letter “Get a Grip on the Slippery Slope Issue” [May 30 Xpress]. Let’s get a grip on our environmental issues period! This isn’t just about people, folks! It is not just about economics or a number of homes sliding down a mountain. As we experience unusually hot […]
Outdoor literature snubbed?
I enjoyed Alli Marshall’s article on WNC’s literary scene [“Literary Evolution,” May 30], but she left out whole genres of books and publishers. OK, so she didn’t include my book, Hiking the Carolina Mountains, maybe because it is a hiking guide—although a pretty literary one. But my publisher, Milestone Press, www.milestonepress.com , should have been […]
Give immigration a broader view
Much is being said about immigration lately, and of course I have my opinion too. One of my many teachers taught me one of the greatest lessons I have ever learned. He taught me to look at important issues holographically, from many different angles. Let’s put this in perspective. To the Native Americans, those that […]
Child Abuse Prevention Services, Inc.
Volunteers planted more than 35,000 daffodil bulbs in Carrier Park last October to honor children who have experienced abuse in N.C. Child Abuse Prevention Services, Inc. is a local nonprofit that works to prevent child abuse, strengthen families and assist children who have experienced abuse. There are almost 4,000 reports of child abuse and neglect […]
CarePartners Hospice and Palliative Care Services
CarePartners Hospice and Palliative Care Services is a nonprofit agency that provides care to terminally ill patients and support and bereavement services to their families. A specially trained team of professionals and volunteers provide compassionate care for people at the end of their lives and continued support for those who are grieving. The focus of […]
Getting by with a little help from their ‘friends’
Donation boxes. You may have see them on the Blue Ridge Parkway or in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and thought, “Why are they panhandling me? Aren’t my taxes taking care of the parks?” In a word, no. Our parks and forests have been underfunded for years and these boxes are put up by […]
I’m from here
I’m from here. Yeah, I know it’s surprising. I attended a meeting a few weeks ago where we were all asked to state our name and how long we’ve lived here. The first person announced that she’s from Greensboro, a North Carolina native. Probably the only one, she added sheepishly. The other people gathered around […]
Get a tighter grip
Regarding “Get A Grip on Slippery Slope Issue” [Letters, May 30], let’s cut to the chase: 1. Ridge-top buildings make for ugly ridge tops—that’s why they are hated. 2. There is no affordable housing in Asheville. — Patricia Wald Asheville
Litter laws
Municipalities everywhere find it difficult to enforce litter laws. Asheville is no exception. But the piles of rubbish on private property around Asheville suggest that even offensive messes are more than the city can or will deal with. The heap of rubble that once was a building at 486 Merrimon Ave. collapsed approximately two years […]
District elections just might work
In his May 23 letter to the editor, “Asheville Needs True Representation,” Ashton Walton stated that “what’s needed is true representation on City Council of all the citizens of all of Asheville.” What Mr. Walton laments is the lack of balanced representation from all major areas of the city in local government. In doing so, […]
What I learned from Hortense
More years ago than I care to admit, I enjoyed driving and repairing my first car—a lovely, maroon 1949 Ford named Hortense. Now, Hortense had a carburetor, and there are some fine, true stories about that carburetor and my prospective mother-in-law. But I digress. I learned an important lesson from that carburetor, and it is: […]
Orange Peel squeezed out locals
Local residents had a real opportunity to see a major act (Smashing Pumpkins) on their first tour in years. Nine nights at the Orange Peel in late June/early July. Instead of setting aside a certain number of tickets for Asheville/WNC residents, the tickets were sold en masse over the Internet. After an initial crash on […]
No time to waste
On May 22, Common Sense at the Nuclear Crossroads held a press conference at Earth Fare, revealing John Sticpewich’s carefully documented report on the likelihood of greatly increased radioactive shipments through our area—should the Department of Energy’s proposed Global Nuclear Energy Partnership plan for reprocessing so-called “spent” nuclear fuel materialize. Actually, these fuel rods are […]
S-word could be “spend”
Asheville is an amazing city; it manages to be vibrant and grow in spite of the dolts that are in charge of the place. Having just finished reading the article, “The Other S-word” [Xpress, May 2], I was amazed at the absurdity of the remarks made by Kati Ketz and Council member [Brownie] Newman. Where […]
Proceeding as planned
According to The New York Times, our biggest success so far in Iraq is the construction of a giant U.S. Embassy … looming over the [Baghdad] skyline, with the distinction of being the only big U.S. building project in Iraq that is on time and within budget … for a cost of $600 million to […]
Gourmet misery
As we celebrated Mother’s Day and the cherished bond between mother and child, my thoughts turned to dairy cows—worldwide symbols of motherhood—who never even get to see their babies. The newborn calves are torn from their mothers at birth and chained by the neck in tiny wood crates. They are denied mother’s milk and love […]
Their heart’s on their sleeve (and on the charts)
Is 2007 the year of The Avett Brothers? Too early to call, perhaps, but there’s no denying the regional trio’s public profile is undergoing a definite upgrade this year. Their first tour of Great Britain in February earned them kudos from The Guardian, one of the UK’s best dailies, plus a sell-out in Glasgow, and […]
Freeze repercussions
There is an unseen world out there that we rarely intersect with. Even us gardeners, who like to think that we’re more connected to the natural world than, say, the average computer geek, do not very often run into the great web of life with its cascading waves of cause and effect. Deadly signals: Telltale […]
Where the fish are
Last summer I caught the trout of a lifetime. N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission I was working through the brush along a little stream in a remote part of Pisgah National Forest. It was late in the season, and I was fishing a foam beetle that’s seen the insides of the mouths of more fish than […]