At the public hearing on the proposed nitrogen oxide (NOx) rules for utilities held on July 27, a carnival atmosphere pervaded. Most of this was due to the very effective organizing of the supporters of a proposed regulation to require utilities to remove 80 percent of the NOx from their emissions. A band was on […]
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Vegetarians invade Asheville
The North American Vegetarian Society (NAVS) recently held its 26th annual Vegetarian Summerfest on the campus of UNCA. Billed as a life-changing experience, Summerfest more than lived up to the expectations of the 600-plus attendees who gathered from around the country and points overseas. Before the event, Mountain Xpress ran a piece about Summerfest by […]
A change in the air?
Skies in the Asheville area have become so poisoned with smog that state regulators considered our air healthy to breathe only one out of four days last summer. Between 1982 and 1994, the incidence of asthma in WNC’s children shot up by 72 percent, according to the American Lung Association. Conservation experts say the Great […]
Asheville City Council
As Council member Ed Hay remarked, the summer of 2000 has been filled with short meetings and little contention for Asheville City Council. Subtract the public-comment portion of Council’s Aug. 8 regular meeting, and it lasted only 27 minutes. The one issue on the agenda that could have been prickly never materialized: For the second […]
Notepad
Oink, ba-a-a and cock-a-doodle-doo Animal Haven of Asheville is not just another place you can go to adopt a dog or cat. While there are some domestic pets available for adoption, the group’s specialty is taking in abused and unwanted farm animals. After rehabilitating them and giving them the needed veterinary care, Animal Haven tries […]
Letters to the editor
Cosmo-girl dreams While standing in the check-out line at Ingles last week, a model on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine caught my eye. She was the ideal 38-20-24, and the dress she wore showed off her perfect figure exquisitely. Since that moment, my mind has been teeming with ideas as to how I might mold […]
Feeling right at home in San Cristobal
Looking for the perfect mate? The city of Asheville has found it in southeastern Mexico. San Cristobal de Las Casas, Asheville’s official twin in the International Sister Cities Program, is its mirror image in many ways. From the beauty of mountainous surroundings to the relaxed ambiance of downtown streets, the similarities are astonishing. “It’s magical! […]
The rewards of international trade
Join the friendly folks here at Frugal-Chic Tours Inc. on this once-in-a-lifetime-trip as we discover how our European garden colleagues live, work and play. Forget your problems with weeds, slugs and digging, and join other friendly folks who also love to till the soil and surround their property with beauty, beauty, beauty! Here’s your chance […]
Walk across the bridge
On July 10, I walked from downtown Asheville to the office of the WNC Air Quality Agency, located on Mt. Carmel Road near Erwin High School. It is my personal policy to walk to all meetings concerning air pollution, so that I arrive with a “fresh” reminder of the severe toxicity of the air in […]
Outside the lines
Theme amusement parks are big business here in the Southeast. First, consider Six Flags Over Georgia: Situated right outside metro Atlanta, this colossal allotment of family-fun acreage successfully exploits Looney Tunes characters and features roller coasters of smile-draining intensity with names like The Ninja. Next, we have Paramount’s Carowinds, in Charlotte (more of the same) […]
High expectations
“From the beginning, my best friends have been the common people.” — Giuseppe Verdi “Opera is for everyone,” insists David Craig Starkey, the founder (and general and artistic director) of the Asheville Lyric Opera. What’s more, he continues, “It’s always been the ‘people’s music.’” The ALO’s ambitious second season is set to launch Aug. 26, […]
Frankly speaking
It’s one thing to imitate the Beatles or Elvis or Van Halen, or to rake in the big dough with a Rod Stewart or Neil Diamond or Grateful Dead cover band. But Project/Object is a Frank Zappa tribute act, and that’s a different animal altogether. This is about as chops-busting a musical endeavor as you’ll […]
Fit to print
For less than they might spend on a Dodge Neon, folks are toting home Picassos — depicting frumpy-butted, splatter-headed women — from a tiny gallery in sleepy Banner Elk. Affordable original works by a modern master? Impossible, you say? Well, naysayer — say again. Etchings, woodcuts and hand-colored lithographs by Picasso, Chagall, Braque and Matisse […]
Over and out
Amid the crooning, grooving and grinding spilling off the Bele Cher stages, amid the unflagging vocal enthusiasm of certain vendors and the general furor, the voice of everyman inevitably arose from the festival’s joyous milieu. “Oooh, funnel cakes! Let’s get some funnel cakes!” was one commonly heard cry. This reporter’s favorite declaration, however, was picked […]
Asheville City Council
At their Aug. 1 work session, Asheville City Council members breezed through staff presentations on a parking study and considered a new tool for the Unified Development Ordinance. Since December 1998, the city has held numerous, sometimes-contentious, meetings with residents and downtown merchants to get a handle on what many feel are serious parking issues. […]
Letters to the editor
Glass corrections I was gratified by the space devoted to Southeastern glass art — and to my gallery, Vitrum — in the July 19 issue [“Going ga-ga over glass”]. However, I need to point out a few omissions/corrections. First, the original owner, Priscilla Hope, should be credited for the “original vision” of a glass gallery […]
CIBO’s plan for improving the air
Thank you for allowing the Council of Independent Business Owners the opportunity to address the readers of the Mountain Xpress concerning your recent articles on CIBO’s involvement with the local air-pollution issue. To begin, the air-pollution agency, along with the proposals regarding the Clean Air Community Trust Fund, have never been emotional issues with us. […]
Marching orders?
The people have spoken. And now that the I-26 Community Design Forum has come and gone, this question remains: What will the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration do with what they’ve heard? An estimated 450 folks filed through the doors of the Renaissance Hotel ballroom during the design forum, bounceing […]
Asheville City Council
At an astonishingly short July 25 meeting, Asheville City Council took less than hour to delay consideration of a proposed Wal-Mart superstore and hold two public hearings on conditional-use permits. At the recommendation of Senior Planner Gerald Green, Council members indefinitely postponed their public hearing on the proposed Wal-Mart supercenter, to be built on the […]
Contamination a concern in Sayles Wal-Mart project
Tetrachloroethene is a volatile, colorless and sweet-smelling chemical — what environmental engineers call a “sinker,” meaning it sinks more deeply into the soil than most contaminants and is extremely difficult to clean up. The Centers for Disease Control considers it a probable carcinogen and says breathing, drinking or touching it for long periods of time […]
Notepad
Touring Flat Rock One of this region’s many charms is the number of historic towns that make for fascinating day trips or get-away weekends. One such destination — Flat Rock — may be particularly worth checking out this weekend. Besides the usual attractions (the Flat Rock Playhouse and the home of acclaimed poet Carl Sandburg), […]