Mountain Xpress: “Thank you for calling back. The reason I called you is that we’re putting together a story that involves an incident that occurred on Oct. 1.” Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford: “I’m familiar with it, yes.” Xpress: “Right. And we have witnesses and confirmation by the SBI [State Bureau of Investigation] that it […]
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Buncombe County Sheriff
One of the more closely watched local contests may be the Buncombe County sheriff’s race. During Sheriff Bobby L. Medford‘s eight years in office, critics have raised questions about the way he has run his department. And since Medford declined to be interviewed by Xpress, it’s difficult to tell whether a victory by challenger Mike […]
Crossing the line
J.B. Saleeby M.D. asked several questions in his Oct. 2 commentary in Xpress. One was, “What have we done as physicians to push people to embrace such silly notions and odd alternative therapies?” He cites several possible reasons but dismisses them as being insufficient to induce people to embrace such “foolish” practices. But his article […]
In a bad-TV trance
Sooner or later, that scary moment comes up in every relationship. I’m not talking about wanting to cheat with her best friend, or even figuring out that the two of you really do look like sisters. Nope, I’m talking about something far stranger. You get into her skin, her heart — and the next thing […]
The meshing of the sun and moon
“If, and how and when, we trace the roots of all life in myth, in real time, in and by writing: that I take to be mythography. And turning there to find figures of sun and moon ready-to-hand for the work of grasping just where and why we are so out of kilter, in this […]
Across the great divide
Before she became a writer, Joelle Fraser enjoyed a brief career as a painter. Like Georgia O’Keeffe, Fraser gravitated toward flowers as her subjects, filling the page with lush red hibiscus and yellow plumeria. She sold her watercolors herself, alongside the street vendors who thronged the park in Sausalito, Calif. This was the golden, uninhibited, […]
Slice of life
The stage was dark. The house lights were down. And most everyone in the joint knew what was coming next. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” boomed a sexy growl of a voice, filling the sardine-tight space. “Welcome to the greatest club in Western North Carolina, the Orange Peel, and your own … Bite … ! […]
Orange you glad?
Want to know the dirt on a club owner? Ask another club owner in the same town. Want the dirtiest dirt you can find? Ask a new club owner about the place’s former owner. But this doesn’t seem to work when it comes to Jack and Lesley Groetsch. “These are genuine and honest people,” raves […]
Mr. Heartbreak returns
At 32, Dave Eggers is a hugely successful writer. Huge! The paperback rights for Eggers’ first book, the 2001 memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, sold for $1.4 million. The movie rights went for a reported $2 million! Critics practically wet their pants praising his writing. His was the book they were reading on […]
Words on fire
Punch lines snap out like yo-yos — this isn’t coffeehouse verse. Poetry slams have crept back into the downtown scene following a long hiatus since their mid-’90s heyday. But they’ve always been an important part of the biannual Lake Eden Arts Festival. This popular form of performance art is ultra-dramatic, dynamic — and often much-more […]
Tying it all together
In an intriguing convergence of history and art, the YMI Cultural Center is presenting Ties That Bind, a series of exhibits, performances and talks illuminating the role of African-Americans in building and operating the railroads that linked Western North Carolina to the world beyond the mountains. Rail service arrived in Buncombe County in 1880 via […]
Walking your talk
“As drivers get accustomed to routine pedestrian activity, they become more aware — and, more importantly, more cautious.” — pedestrian advocate Phillip Abernethy Nearly 24 pedestrians line the sidewalk along Montford Avenue, eyed by curious motorists. First- and second-grade students carry signs proclaiming, “Thanks for driving slow!” Another sign proudly announces, “We walk to school.” […]
Asheville City Council
“What we need is clean, high-tech industry.” This has been city economic-development officials’ battle cry for several years now. But between the recent economic downturn and the stiff competition from other cities, luring such companies to the area has proved to be a challenge. At its Oct. 8 formal session, however, the Asheville City Council […]
The way we do the things we do
“I’m voting against all of them.” These were the words of a disappointed state employee who’d been downsized as a result of the budget cuts recently implemented by the legislature and the governor. There was no reasoning with her. She is going to vote against every incumbent officeholder to “send a message” — an angry, […]
Walking a straight line
I’ve always had faith in my own common sense, my objectivity, my sense of humor — and, most importantly, my judgment. Yet on Jan. 16 of last year, my judgment failed me: I was cuffed and carted off to jail. I have a foggy, 3 a.m. memory colored by blue strobe lights and clean-cut men […]
Judge busts trust fund
North Carolina’s school districts could soon be millions of dollars richer — but at the expense of city and county governments’ revenues from fines and penalties. That’s the potential consequence of a state appeals-court ruling in a local lawsuit, Asheville and Buncombe County officials were warned at a Sept. 25 emergency meeting called the WNC […]
Duck and cover
“The Highway Patrol is notified when any [plutonium] is moved through North Carolina.” — Sgt. P.V. Staggs, chief public-information officer,N.C. Highway Patrol “They [the Highway Patrol] would not get any notification for plutonium.” — DOE spokesperson, Savannah River Site Asheville will soon become a major crossroads in the transport of nuclear materials — including low-level […]
The inner light
Asheville has long been known as a city of intriguing diversity, a lively creative environment where the traditional and the contemporary often go head to head. Walking downtown, you’ll hear as much bluegrass booming from car stereos as you will hip-hop. And the many local galleries, theaters, studios and performance spaces span the full range […]
Sacred Journeys
“I believe the Koran teaches violence, not peace.” — the Rev. Franklin Graham “Samuel also said unto Saul, ‘The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel; now therefore hearken though unto the voice of the words of the Lord. “‘Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all […]
Spending for health
In 1999, the North Carolina General Assembly created the Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission as a result of the tobacco settlement. Our state leaders worked diligently to determine the best use of the settlement moneys for the state of North Carolina. One-quarter of those moneys was set aside to help improve state residents’ health […]
While the rest of the city sleeps
The event that’s become the latest talk of the town is an old-style block party in what archaeologists, historians and preservationists have dubbed one of the historically important African-American urban commercial districts in the country — the Eagle Street area. The party takes place not through a government grant or any kind of public funding […]