This country gets exactly what it deserves, and so does Western North Carolina. In the last decade, the United States — supposedly the freest country in the world — has made a terrible swing toward a deadly form of far-right-wing politics. Now, I don’t see where it makes too much difference whether someone is uncontrollably […]
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Asheville City Council
If you were standing anywhere near City/County Plaza late on the evening of Jan. 23, you might have heard a rattle and a crash — the sound of Asheville City Council members throwing down the gauntlet — coming from the Council chambers toward the end of a lengthy formal meeting. Vice Mayor Chuck Cloninger led […]
Letters to the editor
The “authorities” ought to be ashamed The puissant “law-enforcement” rackets run by those in the public sector who are entrusted and enjoined to promote the public peace and the public good here in Asheville nearly ruin’t my livelong day, today, first thing this mornin’. As I exited my home, via wheelchair, I was verbally ambushed […]
Around the world in 80 ways
Entering the second-floor studio newly designated as The Future of Tradition Center for Folkloric Arts, I experience a wave of total amazement at the space’s transformation. Located at 129 Roberts St. — in the heart of the up-and-coming creative haven that is Asheville’s River District — this previously ramshackle space is now enjoying a vastly […]
Sounds like home
Regina Carter hopes her latest CD, Motor City Moments, will open some eyes — and minds. Specifically, she wants certain people to understand why she incorporates so many different musical styles into her jazz — why you’ll find Thad Jones and Milt Jackson compositions right beside Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye tunes, all peppered with […]
Green and growing
The Prodigals have emerged as the dominant force on the Celtic-music scene simply because there’s no one else like them. No doubt you’ve heard that about a lot of contemporary bands that fuse ancient melodies with rock rhythms. But this time, it’s true. A powerful, New York-based outfit, the Prodigals blend Irish traditional music and […]
Something borrowed
Blue taffeta to the floor. Mint green, empire waist, tea length. Pink bows, pink ribbing, prairie style — though even Laura Ingalls wouldn’t wear this one. All told, there are eight expensive, unbearable bridesmaid dresses — worn once each — hanging in my closet. On the shelf are eight pairs of shoes dyed to match. […]
A prayer for Hawk LittleJohn
“I will listen for his flute in the voice of the wind.” — Ken Light, flutemaker It is said that when white settlers came upon Cherokee villages, they heard hundreds of people playing flutes. Flutemakers — who gave voice to the spirit of the trees from which they carved their flutes, and to the wind […]
Insider art
“I’d feel more comfortable walking through this room naked than I felt standing up there talking to people about my artwork.” Betty Clarke’s voice is soft, slow and very Southern. She has just finished sharing slides of her paintings with a room full of people at the Asheville Art Museum. Her relief at getting it […]
Seen and heard
Yes, The Vagina Monologues contains words my mother would have washed out of my mouth with soap, had I ever tried imitating my brothers by saying them. But the Monologues audience is composed of grownups — who not only know these words, but, if playwright Eve Ensler has her way, will come to view the […]
Hear them roar
Their first live recording confirms it: Saffire — the Uppity Blues Women get even more uppity when faced with a rowdy crowd. Live & Uppity (Alligator, 1998) includes such odes to free living as “Cold Pizza and Warm Beer,” “Silver Beaver” and “You Can Have My Husband.” After a decade of gender bending and baring, […]
Blowin’ in the wind
The swirling musical energy that surged through Chicago in the 1960s with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) is felt today in that city’s underground free-jazz movement. Cornetist and sound sculptor Rob Mazurek co-leads two of the top groups on the scene, Isotope 217 and Chicago Underground Duo. For Mazurek, it was […]
Their own damn selves
What’s the best piece of advice Stacey Earle ever received from big brother Steve? “He told me to sing like my own damn self,” she answers via telephone from her home in Nashville — and then, in a burst of girlish charm that’s the antithesis of her older sibling’s legendary tough-ass insolence, apologizes for cursing. […]
Commissioners talk land use, taxes and more
At the Buncombe County commissioners’ recent retreat, held Jan. 5-6, board members grappled with one of the most consistently controversial local issues: land-use planning. Although commissioners’ opinions on the issue were all over the map, they agreed to ask the county planning board for recommendations. Commissioners gave the planning board until late May to propose […]
Asheville City Council
They came together as Jews, Baptists, Catholics, Buddhists and Wiccans. They were young and old, Republican and Democrat, a veritable hodgepodge of people from a city that prides itself on its diversity. But they came before City Council on Jan. 9 as a unified group: People of Faith Against the Death Penalty. And they were […]
Meat plant
It was a slow news day until the phone rang. The caller had a story idea and wanted to know if I was interested. He said it would involve an early Saturday-morning trip to a nearby wetland to investigate the possibility of reintroducing a rare plant species. I was hesitant at first — especially about […]
Building green
“Green” building should be changing the way houses are built in this country. I’m a “green” contractor, and I can assure you it is happening, albeit in a small way. But how can you tell if a house is “green” or not? Shouldn’t we at least have green roofs and decorative details that allow you […]
North Carolina can’t see the forests for the trees
North Carolina’s forests are in trouble. Depending on where you live or vacation, that fact may or may not be obvious. In the western piedmont and mountain regions of the state, clear-cuts have stripped entire hillsides, and in the coastal plain, wooded swamplands have been drained and replaced by row after row of planted pine […]
Preservation or manipulation?
How would you like to be cross-examined by the government for wanting to renovate your house? In Hendersonville, N.C., this isn’t merely a possibility; it’s a fact. That’s right: The government, under the guise of “historic preservation,” can now force a homeowner to meet its interpretation of aesthetics. Your home may be a mere 30 […]
EPA audit blasts state water-quality agency
Are North Carolina officials doing a good job of enforcing federal water-pollution limits? Environmentalists don’t think so — and neither does the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to a highly critical audit report issued by the EPA’s Office of the Inspector General. The investigation into how the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources dealt […]
Letters to the editor
Cab fare increase is a bit excessive Just wanted to comment on the cab companies’ new rates. It used to cost me around $3.65 from Ingles to my house, which was my most common cab ride. Tonight, it cost me $6.10 for the same trip. I will be taking the bus from here on out, […]