A warmer place: Experiment­al label Headway Recordings offers an interior experience

If the typical sequence goes band, record label, concerts, then Asheville's Headway started backward. Headway began in 2008 as a series of live events — Headway Presents — at Izzy’s. Its purpose was to provide support for “an aesthetic outside the realm of the mainstream [that] needed a live audience and a venue,” says co-founder and musician Christopher Ballard.

Borderline­: Asheville family lives the immigratio­n debate

In May 2005, Angela Tapia stood on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande River, waiting to cross to the United States with her husband, Ernesto Galindo, and their two children, Pedro, 10, and Maria, 6. About 12 feet wide due to dry weather, the Rio Grande looked more like a small lake than a river. But none of them knew how to swim, and the “coyote” they’d hired to take them across was telling them to wade in, promising to return the backpack containing their possessions on the other side. This Asheville family is part of a heated national immigration debate. Here is their story.

CSA FYI: Trends, Types, and To-Dos

A quick guide to today’s Community Supported Agriculture programs What is a CSA? Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a great way to enjoy fresh, locally grown food and connect with the farmers growing it. Family farms offering traditional CSAs provide the chance to sign up for a season and receive a steady supply of farm-fresh […]

Business Blotter

Openings Dough market, 372 Merrimon Ave., 712-4350, www.doughasheville.com. Livi’s Pantry, 41 N. Merrimon Ave., 251-1958. http://www.livispantry.com. Smoke Rings smoke shop, 105 Broadway St. 575-9553. Closings Tomato Cocina Latina, 70 Westgate Parkway. Renovations and other changes Dancing Bear Toys, from Tunnel Road to 518 Kenilworth Road. http://www.dancingbeartoys.com. Ship to Shore Clothier, Haywood Road to 85 State […]

Go big or go home

While I don’t agree with all laws/government mandates, I don't think wielding a gun to create my militia to protect my homeland is the right answer [“Diversity Is Perfection,” Feb. 6 Xpress]. People/guns have evolved, and so should our thinking. The Second Amendment has not caught up with the times. I don't need a bazooka […]

Not your average Confederat­e

Someone has to have some serious white guilt if she thinks that some kids mocking H.K. Edgerton walking around with his rebel flag merits a letter to the editor [“Be Respectful or Be Gone,” Jan. 30 Xpress]. Who does not take some pause when facing a black man in full Confederate garb? — Reena Patel […]

Can’t Mountain Xpress find a more intelligen­t cartoonist­?

I was happy to see the Jamie Cameron's Feb. 13 letter to Xpress criticizing "cartoonist" Randy Molton. Aren't cartoons supposed to be funny sometimes? Aren't they supposed to convey a touch of intelligent social commentary? All Molton does is draw crude images characterizing the demographic he wishes to attack as being ignorant, slobbering, subhuman creatures. […]

Use tax dollars to support more students

I enthusiastically support Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education in our schools, but there are many issues with putting it in the location recommended by the Buncombe County school board. The school will serve only 6 percent (400) of our high school students. Why not build STEM Learning Centers in our six comprehensive high […]

Just Us For All seeks nonprofit status, invites public to Feb. 22 gender-identity fundraiser

The Asheville-based activist group, Just Us For All, has organized a Friday, Feb. 22, fundraising event, “How We Identify.” It is the group’s third annual arts+words show, which aims to celebrate different spectrums of queer identity. “I believe this will be our most informative and inclusive How We Identify event to date,” says Sam “Basil” […]